Shares in Debenhams (DEB) fell around 3 per cent after the retailer reported like-for-like sales down 2.4 per cent in its third quarter at constant currency while gross transaction value was down 1 per cent. Shareholders may be nervous that the turnaround plan under new chief executive Sergio Bucher, formerly at Amazon, might not be going according to plan, but some evidence of its efficacy can be found in the update.
The move to digital appears to be working as online sales were up 7.9 per cent in the third quarter and 12.6 per cent in the financial year to date driven by mobile demand. Mr Bucher added that the company has made progress with its ‘Debenhams Redesigned’ strategy, which aims to drive growth through making shopping a social experience.
Analysts at Stifel expect pre-tax profits of £95.5m in the year to August 2017 giving an EPS of 6.2p, compared to £114.1m and 7.5p in FY2016.
