Clinton Cards and fashion group Jacques Vert have joined the chorus of retailers reporting weaker than expected sales as the slowdown in consumer spending continues to take its toll on the high street.
Analysts calculated that like-for-like sales at the card specialist had fallen by more than 5% in the past month, despite a monster clearance sale of Halloween stock. Clintons said the decision to slash the price of leftover costumes and party decorations had hurt profit margins, potentially adding to the woes of the retailer, where the City has already pencilled in an annual loss of £9m.
Like-for-like sales were down 2.4% for 16 weeks to 20 November, with Clinton "mindful of the challenging retail environment and cautious consumer sentiment". Last month Darcy Willson-Rymer, who previously ran Starbucks' UK operations, joined as chief executive to attempt a turnaround of the troubled card chain.
The fashion retailer Jacques Vert blamed the mild autumn for its performance as shoppers had delayed buying winter coats and jackets, creating a stock surplus that had triggered a wave of discounting across the high street. "Performance has been impacted by a combination of weaker consumer confidence and the unseasonally warm weather," said its chief executive, Paul Allen. "Consequentially, margins have come under pressure as we have responded to promotional activity in the market and looked to stimulate demand so as to keep stock levels under control."
Jacques Vert, whose brands include Windsmoor and Planet, also highlighted higher than expected one-off costs associated with consolidating its warehouses into a single site, with profits for the year to the end of April now expected to be "below expectations".
Freddie George, a Seymour Pierce analyst, said the same issues were affecting all clothing retailers at the moment and cut his profit forecast for Jacques Vert from £5.5m to £4m.
