After a disappointing start to its float, things are starting to pick up. Since the release of results in December, the shares have steadily increased from 147p to 161p.

The group has a strong and fast growing market share and should perform well.

Thanks for the posts Goldfinger it all seems very positive,the start of 2006 has been good to me so far as investing is concerned ,long may it continue!

Glad to hear that DB. Heres a bit more Hype for Jessops...........

The Times January 10, 2006

Jessops presents rosier picture
By Elizabeth Judge



DEMAND for digital cameras has helped Jessops, the photographic retailer, to shrug off difficult trading conditions and fears about the threat from mobile camera phones.
The company, which reported a surge in internet sales, recorded an increase in like-for-like sales over the five weeks to January 1 of 9.4 per cent. Total sales were up by 13.3 per cent.



Jessops said that the growth, which will further encourage optimism before an intensive week of results for the retail sector, was driven by continued strong demand for digital cameras. Sales of the cameras were up 23 per cent on the same time last year, while sales of high-ticket single-lens reflex (SLR) digital cameras costing between 300 and 1,000 were up by a dramatic 93 per cent.

The retailer, which has 285 stores and plans to open a further 15 or 16 this financial year, said that its decision to promote a number of cameras offered under exclusive deals with manufacturers had helped to woo customers away from rivals.

The company also saw a large jump in sales over the internet. Within the total like-for-like increase, sales over the net and by direct mail jumped 74.3 per cent, compared with a 5.7 per cent rise in in-store sales.

Though the growth over December came at the expense of some fall in gross margin for the financial years first quarter which was marginally below Jessopss expectations analysts welcomed the groups performance and the shares closed up 6p to 103p.

Rhys Williams, an analyst with Seymour Pierce, said: Overall, this is a solid performance and gives us confidence for the group for the remainder of the year.

He said that although Christmas traditionally is less important for Jessops than the summer, the figures gave a good indicator of where sales were going and left the group strongly positioned for the months ahead.

In December Jessops reported a 1.2 per cent drop in like-for-like sales during October and November.

Chris Langley, chief operating officer of Jessops, accepted that the figures were a welcome respite from a difficult trading year, but said that it was still early days in the companys financial year, which started in October. Mr Langley said: The retail market is still quite volatile.

The group is also about to enter the traditionally difficult spring period, which last year saw a sharp drop-off in sales.

Last year Jessops, which floated in 2004, prompted fears that it was unable to cope with the consumer slowdown and competition from camera phones when it issued a profit warning. Underlying profits declined in the companys last financial year. Although digital cameras in British households have reached only 50 per cent penetration, Jessops has to compete not only with traditional rivals, such as Dixons and other photographic retailers, but with supermarkets. Furthermore, camera phones have presented a new challenge. Jessops said, however, that it was encouraged not only by the rise in sales of digital cameras, but by a move by existing owners to upgrade from their original digital cameras.

SNAPPED UP

Annual digital camera sales more than doubled between 2002 and 2005, to 70 million units globally
Sales will reach 92 million units in 2009
Digital camera penetration is about 50 per cent in the UK
Europe is the largest market, ahead of the United States and Japan

cheers GF.

A nice move up already this morning.

cheers GF.

And more Newspaper coverage from the telegraph. Its worth noting that 4 brokers have this as a STRONG BUY and 1 broker as it as a BUY.

Jessops clicks with demand for digital
By Caroline Muspratt (Filed: 10/01/2006)


Camera and photographic products retailer Jessops has reported strong growth in Christmas sales as digital cameras again proved popular gifts.



The chain negotiated exclusive deals with manufacturers where it was the only retailer to carry a particular camera in a certain colour, or was able to offer some new models two weeks ahead of rivals.

Sales across the company have been gathering momentum, up 13.3pc in the five weeks to January 1 after an 8.2pc rise in the 13 weeks to January 1 and a 3.1pc rise in the eight weeks to November 27.

Same store sales rose 5.7pc in the five weeks to January 1 while internet sales, which account for around 10pc of total business, jumped 74.3pc.

Derek Hine, chief executive, said: "It is a good outcome given that we were up against some pretty strong comparators from a good Christmas for Jessops the previous year.

"Trading was particularly buoyant in the week either side of Christmas."

However, Mr Hine added: "With nine months' trading still to come, we are mindful of last year's market conditions, although this strong start to the year does underpin confidence in our prospects for the year as a whole."

Jessops said that the growth was driven by an uplift in sales of digital cameras, which grew 23pc, with sales of digital SLRs up by 92.8pc.

It said a combination of exclusive deals and competitive pricing were key factors in the strong sales performance.

The company added that gross margins in the first quarter were "marginally below our expectations" but they were still ahead of last year.

The shares rose 6 to 103p.

cheers GF.

Blimey this one takes some moving. Not sure if thre is an overhang in the market but buys have been far higher today as they were yesterday.

cheers GF.

Off to a positive start.

cheers GF.

GF
Have you had a look at CCT sales up 60% with a very low M/Cap.

Will have a look Driver thanks for that.

cheers GF.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200601120941538268W.html

Nice to see a Director Buying and putting his faith behind the company.

cheers GF.

Trading update set for release on Thursday 19th January. Fingers crossed!

Got these on my watch list cant believe they are still under 100p.

Quite dissappointing they`ve dropped below a 1, IMHO it`s unjustified based on the recent performance of the company.

Nice to see this one heading in the right direction. Im hoping stale bulls have finally unloaded their stock.

cheers GF.

Looking like this could be the start of it`s next leg upwards.

Indeed Dandu. Lets hope we dont get the late selling.

cheers GF.

Jessops confident about FY prospects; to roll-out new store format
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Photographic retailer Jessops PLC said it is confident about its prospects for the year ahead after a strong start, although it repeated its previous qualifications that Christmas is not its key period and the broader retail environment remains difficult.

The group also said it would be spending an additional 5 mln stg during 2006 rolling out its new store format to up to 200 more stores, after trials proved successful.

However, it added it does not expect these format changes to impact profits in the current financial year due to the short-term disruption that will accompany the roll-out programme.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

tc


cheers GF.

Looks like we still have stale bulls holding this one back, but never mind patience is required.......

Jessops buys 3 stores from That Camera Place for 75,000 stg
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Specialist photographic retailer Jessops PLC said it has bought three camera stores from Midlands-based company That Camera Place Limited for 75,000 stg plus the value of stock on completion.

The three stores - situated in Abingdon, Bicester and Evesham - will undergo a refit to the new spacemix standard and bring the total number of Jessops stores to 288, it said.



newsdesk@afxnews.com

vjt

cheers GF.

A move back upto the 100 level, fingers crossed we go on from here.

cheers GF.

Is this the day we finally break out?.

cheers GF.

Looks like it, Yipee.

cheers GF.