Yahoo Finance Debenhams Shares Rocket Following 'Strong' Xmas
Department store Debenhams (Other OTC: DBHSF - news) enjoyed a record Christmas with sales rising 1.8% in the seven weeks to 9 January.
Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the company rose 16% following the strong sales figures which were against a backdrop of unseasonably warm weather.
Debenhams strength wasn't just a Christmas phenomenon, with sales rising 1.9% in the 19 weeks to the same date.
Sales growth would have been stronger had it not been for the euro's weakness which lowers the sterling value of European sales.
The euro is nearly 4% weaker than it was this time last year, stripping out this effect causes Christmas sales growth to rise to 3.7%.
Online was a key component to its success with web sales growing 15.4% - and are now over a quarter higher than they were two years ago.
The department store's reluctance to discount looks to have paid off with full price sales up 5%.
The store attributes this to clever stock management especially across its weather-sensitive lines such as coats and gloves which meant it wasn't forced to run promotions to shift unwanted stock.
The results were also bolstered by the five new stores which have opened since September. The new stores in Bradford, Wandsworth, Rugby, Beverley and Newport (NasdaqGS: NEWP - news) bring the overall estate to over 250 outlets across 27 countries.
Debenhams boss Michael Sharp said: "This performance is evidence that our strategy is working with our customers finding our mix of products and brands both compelling and great value for money."
The figures were especially strong given that, overall, retailers only saw a 0.1% increase in like-for-like sales according to the the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
Measured on a total basis, sales rose 1% on the year, stronger than the 0.7% growth rate seen in November.
Commenting on these figures Deutsche Bank (Other OTC: DBAGF - news) economist, George Buckley, said: "One reason sales have been so weak is lower prices - with high street prices down 2% year-on-year the real rise was 3%, only slightly lower than its average during last year as a whole.
"Still, with sizable discounts being required to generate sub-average sales growth it seems to have been a difficult Christmas for retailers (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ".
