Below is a list of expexted dates for trading updates from the retailers. The general consensus is that it has been a tough xmas for the high street retailers though post xmas sales have done ok. What do others think?

Trading update dates:

Wed 5th - Next
Fri 7th - Greggs
Tue 11th - Wm Morrison
Wed 12th - Burberry, Dixons, House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer, Matalan, Peacocks
Thu 13th - GUS, JJB Sports, Mothercare, Signet, J Sainsbury, Tesco
Fri 14th - Austin Reed, Bodyshop, Woolworths
Mon 17th - Kingfisher, Monsoon
Tue 18th - HMV
Wed 19th - Boots, Somerfield, WH Smith


My own opinions are as follows:

Winners:
Tesco, Greggs, Monsoon

Losers:
WH SMith, Boots, JJB Sports, Sainsburys, WM Morrison

I currently have a pairs trade on Tesco/Sainsbury and am short JJB Sports.

Well when i was in liverpool on the 27th of december at 7.00am there was next bags everywhere,,,,,,but it was half price clobber,but that is the normal at next.

Get ready for the great next sale unlucky macca time for a short .

Any other players ?

Dave

strikes me as mixed - appears they fared ok pre-xmas but got the stock levels and sale wrong - could bear badly for other retailers performance


NEXT PLC



TRADING STATEMENT


NEXT Retail sales for the period from 3 August to 24 December 2004 were up 12.1%
compared to the same period last year. For clarity, the comparative period last
year includes the same number of days as this year. Like-for-like sales in the
285 stores that were unaffected by new openings were up 2.9%. Total
like-for-like sales, including the 49 stores that were directly affected by new
openings, were up 0.5%.



NEXT Directory sales were up 13.4% in the period.



Taken together, sales for NEXT Retail and NEXT Directory were up 12.4%.



Clearance rates in our end of season Sale have been below our expectations, on
stock levels that were higher than originally planned. As a result we have
lowered our internal profit forecast by 5m. We currently expect Next Group
pre-tax profit for the full year to be in the range 415m to 425m, which is
broadly in line with market expectations.



We expect to issue our preliminary announcement of results for the 52 weeks to
29 January 2005 on Wednesday 23 March 2005.

Looking at around 16.00 if i can grab it.

Give it up as a bad job,never a fan of the sp,and never much scope for improvement .

matalan, peacocks, jessops should all do well imho... boots has an outside chance to suprise to the upside imho..

Even Ottakars results are disappointing.

Looks like we all just bought alcohol for xmas - Majestic Wine showing double digit like for like growth for the 9 week period

Fundy did you get the email,as i have changed my address book.

M&S profit-warning

No surprise here..........


MoneyAM
Marks & Spencer Group has warned on full-year profits after reporting disappointing Christmas sales.

"Although we still have three months of trading ahead of us until the end of the current financial year (to end-March 2005), given our third-quarter performance, and in particular the impact of higher markdown costs, we now expect that profit before tax and exceptional items for the current year will be in the range of 600m-625m," the retailer said in a trading update brought forward from its scheduled January 12th release.

For the six weeks to January 1st, M&S saw non-food sales on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of new space, fall 8.55, while like-for-like food sales dipped 1.7%.

Total sales declined 3.7% and were down 5.6% on a like-for-like basis.

For the 13 weeks to January 1st, like-for-like non-food sales were down 8.5% and underlying food sales were down 2.9%.

Total sales were down 3.6% or down 6% on a like-for-like basis.

Clothing sales fell 4.4% over the 13-week period, while home sales slumped 25.2%.

M&S admitted that despite heightened levels of promotional activity over the Christmas period, including two '20% off' days, significantly more stock was carried over into the end of season sale compared with last year.

"While we have achieved good clearance of the Sale stock, the impact of the Sale has contributed to higher markdown costs for the quarter," it said.

Markdown costs for the second half, including an estimate for the impact of the Easter Sale, are now expected to show an increase of around 40m compared with last year.

The retailer said stock control is a key priority for the business. It noted that total forward commitments are now 25% less than for the equivalent period last year.

It added that while the food business traded disappointingly throughout October and November, trading showed some improvement over the Christmas period

JJB Sports saw total sales in its stores and health clubs in the 23 weeks to January 2nd 2005 drop by 1.6% year-on-year.

This included a like-for-like decrease in turnover of units that had been trading for over 52 weeks of 1.1%.

The drop in sales came entirely from a shortfall in the group's clothing products, JJB said.

It said Health Club sales are buoyant and it plans to open a further 18 new units in the current year.

The group currently expects pretax and amortisation profits for the 53 weeks ending January 30th 2005, to be in the range of 61m to 64m.

75 % off some goods when we went,,bought a few scalextric sets ,,bargain 29.

A nice touch on hmv ..

Just a thought that may or may not be of interest to someone...
DXNS - the report on the 12th Jan was not a trading update but
their interim results. I'm not sure of the ex-div date, but the record date
for the divi is 28 Jan, payable 28 Feb. Divi payable 1.83p per share.
Two points - one it's a good divi, up again this year by 10%!
Two - there's the possibility of others buying in before the ex-div date
that just might maybe drive the price up further....
Just thought I'd mention it - DYOR etc etc
:>)

The Big W store near me is closing and Tesco are taking it over for one of their new stand-alone non food stores, is this happening all over?

yes i think so, i believe Big W is being phased out completely.

i still cannot understand why the MKS price is defying gravity, stores are doing poorly, Xmas was bad, and yet the price sticks........must be a short waiting to happen???

MKS price remains bouyant whilst there is still a possibility that Peter Green may table another bid.

sandrews

if memory serves me correctly Woolworths have decided that the big W concept doesnt work. The properties fall into two categories - food and non-food as far as planning is concerned. For all the stores that are allowed food retailing these have been bought by tesco and asda (about half each), they are still looking to sell the non food outlets

Thanks guys.....I had wondered if these were all becoming Tesco nonfood outlets.