TIPSTERS AT SQUAIREGAIN RECKON THIS IS A DOUBLE YOUR MONEY

Wont be good news for the retail trade as you already know the sector takes a dive when M@S come out with bad results... from Yesterdays Sunday Express....


Marks & Spencer in sales slump shock


MARKS & SPENCER IN SALES SLUMP SHOCK



The downbeat figures from Marks & Spencer follow a profit warning from Dixons
Sunday April 3,2011
By Emma Vickers

MARKS & SPENCER is poised to deliver a dramatic 6.2 per cent slump in like-for-like non-food sales on Wednesday as households finally hit the brakes on spending.


The iconic department stores expected performance in clothing and furniture for the 13 weeks to April 2, is its worst since the arrival of its new chief executive Marc Bolland last year, reflecting dire times facing the UK high street.

This represents a slowdown from the previous quarter, when same-store sales of general merchandise were up by 3.8 per cent.

Consumers spent throughout 2010 but Januarys VAT rise, coupled with the impact of Government cuts has curbed their spending habits, according to Numis retail analyst James Dilks-Hopper.

If you look across the retail sector everyone is struggling. The VAT impact was significant. In January spending was up as retailers were holding back the increase, but when promotions stopped in February, spending just fell, he said.

Marks & Spencers like-for-like food sales for the quarter remain buoyant, however, increasing by an estimated 1.3 per cent. This has helped bring the like-for-like total for all goods up to minus 2.5 per cent, analysts predict.

The downbeat figures from Marks & Spencer follow a profit warning from electrical retailer Dixons last week. Its shares fell 18 per cent.

Chief executive John Browett said sales of PCs, laptops and televisions had slumped after unemployment fears kept wallets closed.

Mothercare and Laura Ashley both said last week that UK sales had slipped in recent weeks.

Matthew McEachran, analyst at Singer Capital Markets, said: The trading environment is very difficult. Theres a big question over whether customers, having bought general merchandise over the past 12 months, will keep on buying.

Household names HMV and JJB are struggling to stay afloat and wine chain Oddbins is expected to go into administration tomorrow.

Separately, retailers and other commercial landlords were hit on Friday by a hike in business rates, with some central London office occupiers facing increases of up to 23 per cent.

The parameters used to calculate business rates, such as the Retail Price Index (RPI) and property values, have been skewed by recent unusual economic events, landlords argue. RPI is unusually high due to soaring inflation and high buildings rates values were calculated before the property crash, leaving landlords at a loss.

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/money/view/238443/Marks-Spencer-in-sales-slump-shock-Marks-Spencer-in-sales-slump-shock-#ixzz1IUDkegZd

Laura Ashley Holdings plc announces another strong set of results for the 52 weeks to 26 January 2013 with sales growth of 4.5% and profit growth of 9.2%, and

In the first two months of the current financial year, we have achieved like-for-like sales growth of 2.7%.

This is an encouraging start to the year and we are confident that this progress can be maintained."

Ex-divi 29th Jan (1p)

Wait for fireworks at this upmarket chain - By Alistair Strang | Tue, 14th March 2017 - 10:28

Laura Ashley (LSE:ALY)
Rather amusingly, we've included this lot in 'Our ISA' table, but cannot find a report compiled against the share which provided future potentials. Perhaps this is just as well, given we're showing it was viewed at 18p and the share price is now trading around 16p.

Worse, the price was recently forced below the long-term uptrend (circled), entering a phase where weakness now below 14.5p points has 11.5p next with secondary, if (when) broken, at an ultimate bottom of 9p.

We're calling this an 'ultimate' 'cos we cannot calculate a number below such a point without prefacing it with a minus sign.

With Laura Ashley (ALY), there's a major "thing" which fascinates us, and it's shown in 'blue' since 1996.

For the last couple of years the share price has been reacting to a trend since 1996, and there's little doubt any movement now above 'blue' is liable to promote fireworks as a 21-year-old trend being bettered is liable to provide a celebration!

The implication now is that the price must trade above 19p to indicate something happening, as movement toward 21p initially looks sane with secondary a very probable 27p. Then we need to review the tea leaves...

and now at 8.35p the downtrend continues as results are badddddd.... and dividend scrapped ..........

Laura Ashley like-for-like sales fall

Laura Ashley Holdings' total like-for-like sales fell by 3.1% in the 52 weeks to the end of June.

The group posted a profit before tax and exceptional items of £8.4m (2016: £24.7m - 74 week period) and a statutory profit before tax of £6.3m (2016: £22.8m - 74 week period).

Group sales totalled £277.0m against £400.9m for the 74 week period) with online revenue of £57.3m (2016: £73.5m - 74 week period).

Online sales were up 5.6% on a like-for-like basis.

Hotel revenue totalled £2.5m (2016: £3.5m - 74 week period).

The company said the board was not recommending payment of a final dividend. An interim dividend of 0.5p has already been paid (2016 - 2.5p).

Chairman Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Peng said: "Trading conditions have been challenging for the year ended 30 June 2017.

"We are focused on addressing the challenges which our business has encountered over the past year and are confident that we are well-positioned to overcome them.

"Our online performance continues to be strong and we saw like-for-like online revenues grow by 5.6% over the year.

"A strong and expanding international presence is at the core of our strategy.

"We signed a new licence partner in India earlier this year and we are looking forward to the opening of our first Indian stores next month.

"We launched our Chinese website in November and I am pleased that this is making good progress and enhancing our presence in the territory.

"Laura Ashley is known worldwide for high quality, beautifully designed products. 33% of our sales come from products manufactured in the UK.