It is also slashing costs across the group Sales at its Calais, Cherbourg and Coquelles sites rose 21.7 per cent over the summer, slowing slightly in recent weeks. The other high street retailers will continue to suffer because they can't get the necessary like-for-like sales to offset their high fixed costs."Majestic Wine, which owns 113 outlets in Britain and three in France, said recent like-for-like sales growth had slowed slightly from the 12 per cent increase achieved over the summer. "There has been a step up in the rate of progress because we seem to be more successful in finding sites," Mr How said. Majestic, which sites new stores on land formerly occupied by car showrooms and petrol stations, sees scope for up to 175 sites across Britain.Although ferry companies such as P&O have struggled to persuade Britons to holiday in France, Majestic said trading in its French stores had been "excellent". It recently acquired leapingsalmon, the online provider of gourmet meal packs, in an attempt to increase its consumer appeal.Robert Brent, an analyst at KBC Peel Hunt, said: "The competition is extremely benign. "They are focusing much more at the convenience market, while our business is aimed much more at the wine enthusiast," he said.Thresher, owned by Guy Hands' Terra Firma Capital Partners, is replacing its disappointing Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine formats with revamped Threshers outlets. Majestic Wine brushed aside the potential impact of a fresh onslaught from its biggest rival, Thresher, yesterday as it reported strong underlying sales growth. They reflect the scale of competition across the high street, which has forced companies such as Po Na Na into administration. Analysts had hoped Inventive would escape the fate of its peers because its offering was distinctive: an unrivalled choice of flavoured vodkas..
as market conditions improve we will be strongly placed to extract maximum benefit."Inventive's problems follow months of woe at Luminar, the nightclubs group. It is also slashing costs across the group.Roy Ellis, the chief executive, said: "Our balance sheet is strong and we continue to be highly cash generative I am confident that ... Numis Securities cut its forecast by the same amount, saying some of the group's newer sites must be seeing "significant double-digit declines" to explain the sales shortfall. "With a further eight new sites still expected to open, trading progress must be assumed to have taken a significant setback for the management to be signalling such a large drop in profits relative to expectations at this early stage of the financial year," it added.Inventive, which owns 39 bars, said its profit warning came despite cutting its head office cost base and improving its beverage margin through better buying. The company said it would look at its worst performing outlets and launch marketing campaigns to bolster sales across the estate. Its shares slumped 21 per cent, or 25p, to 96p. The company, a favourite with students, had hoped trading would improve once university terms began. |
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