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Woolworths sees festive sales dip | Woolworths sees festive sales dip |
(10 minutes later) | |
Woolworths has reported a 4.6% drop in like-for-like sales over the key Christmas trading period. | Woolworths has reported a 4.6% drop in like-for-like sales over the key Christmas trading period. |
The troubled High Street retailer said it experienced weakness in CD, DVD and seasonal confectionery sales during the six weeks to 13 January. | The troubled High Street retailer said it experienced weakness in CD, DVD and seasonal confectionery sales during the six weeks to 13 January. |
Woolworths warned in December that its full-year profits would plunge if its like-for-like sales, which ignore the effect of new stores, did not improve. | Woolworths warned in December that its full-year profits would plunge if its like-for-like sales, which ignore the effect of new stores, did not improve. |
The firm is facing tough competition in its market from the likes of Tesco. | The firm is facing tough competition in its market from the likes of Tesco. |
The latest fall in sales at Woolworths follows a previously reported drop of 6.5% for the 18 weeks to the beginning of December. | |
Book deal | |
Woolworths retail found some of its traditional markets more difficult, leading to disappointing like-for-like sale over the Christmas weeks Trevor Bish-Jones, Woolworths chief executive Check Woolworths shares | |
Woolworths said its most difficult sales areas over the festive period had been "CD, DVD and seasonal confectionery product categories where market weakness was driven by marked price deflation". | |
"Woolworths retail found some of its traditional markets more difficult, leading to disappointing like-for-like sales over the Christmas weeks," said chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones. | |
"Despite this, stock levels have been well controlled and we continue to improve gross margins." | |
Separately, the firm said it was buying book wholesaler Bertram Group for £29m ($56.9m), in a bid to strengthen its entertainment wholesale business. | |
Woolworths added that its audio-visual publishing business 2Entertain, a joint venture with the BBC's commercial arm BBC Worldwide, had benefited from DVD sales of natural history series Planet Earth. |