High street retailer Laura Ashley (ALY) ended the year with a 0.4 per cent decline in like-for-like retail sales and 4 per cent fall in underlying pre-tax profit, driven by weakness in the furniture and fashion categories.
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However, trading did improve over course of the year, from a 2.2 per cent sales slump in the first half to a 1.2 per cent rise in the second. e-commerce sales fell 3 per cent, although finance director Sean Anglim said a new order management system will help trading, while French and German language websites will go live in 2014.
