Actif Group PLC
20 January 2005
Actif Group plc
Trading update
Christmas 2004 Trading Statement
Actif Group plc announces that like for like sales in its retail business for
the 5 weeks to 8th January 2005 were up by 6.0% on the previous year. This sales
improvement was driven by an increase in Christmas gift products, a generally
favourable reaction to the Autumn / Winter product offer and an earlier start to
the Winter Sale.
Cumulatively, like for like retail sales for the 23 weeks to 8th January 2005
were down 2.5% on the previous year. As reported in the 2004 Annual Report in
October, the financial year got off to a poor start as we were up against very
strong comparative sales figures in August, due to the exceptionally hot summer
of 2003. Since then, retail sales have been on a recovering trend as the Autumn
/ Winter collections have been well received.
Looking ahead however, the Board endorses the concerns that are being expressed
elsewhere regarding the outlook for retail in 2005 and we remain cautious about
the impact this could have on our retail sales and wholesale forward orders
during the second half of our financial year.
Mark Evans, Chief Executive, commented: 'The Christmas trading period has been
encouraging for our retail business and it has helped to recover most of the
shortfall we saw in this part of the Group during August. However, we remain
cautious about prospects for the second half of our financial year given the
uncertainty over the economic outlook for 2005.'
Enquiries:
Mark Evans, Chief Executive, Actif Group plc Tel: 0207 462 8810
Julian Ghinn, Finance Director, Actif Group plc Tel: 0207 462 8801
Jessica Rouleau, gcg hudson sandler Tel: 0207 796 4133
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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