'Femme fatale' trend helps revive trading for Debenhams

British department store chain Debenhams, which recently acquired Roches Stores for €29 million, has delivered an upbeat trading statement and said there were signs that conditions in its home market were improving.

In the first trading update since its return to the London stock market last May after an absence of more than two years, the chain said that its sales for the year to September 2nd rose by 6.6 per cent compared with last year. On a like-for-like basis, sales rose by 0.5 per cent.

This compared with a 1.7 percent rise after 32 weeks. The group said profit before tax and one-off items for the period would meet its expectations, but did not give a figure. Analysts expect a profit of around £165 million pounds (€244.25 million).

The trading period in question covered only three weeks of trading after Debenhams bought nine of Roches's 11 stores in a deal that brought its total portfolio of outlets in the Republic to 12. "This transaction has now been approved by the Irish Competition Authority and the stores will be converted to the Debenhams fascia and trading format during the course of the current trading year," the chain said.

Chief executive Rob Templeman said: "We are pleased with our performance and remain well placed as we enter the new financial year.

"Although as widely reported, the retail market was challenging in the early part of the summer, there are signs that trading conditions are improving."

Debenhams said that a "femme fatale" look in women's fashion was helping to revive trading after a sluggish early summer. "There was no real fashion trend in the summer at the young end [ of the market]," Mr Templeman said. "But there's definitely more trend merchandise out there now."

He went on: "We think black and red and hound's tooth [ fabric] - what we're calling 'femme fatale' - will be quite big. We're certainly seeing that in our designer products at the moment."

The Roches deal was seen as an attempt to take advantage of the perceived boom in Irish consumer spending as British retailers struggle in a sluggish market. - (Reuters, PA)