Financial headlines
Gross transaction value (GTV) up 2.1%
o UK up 1.0%
o International up 6.8%
Group like-for-like sales up 1.5%
Group gross margin down 100bps
Clean stock position at end of half, terminal stock of 2.6% in line with long-term average
Profit before tax down 24.5% at £85.2m, in line with guidance
Earnings per share down 21.1% to 5.6p
Interim dividend of 1.0p per share maintained
Operational headlines
Group online GTV up 24.1%, accounting for 15.4% of total GTV
Next day delivery to home launched in UK
Oxford Street international flagship transformation completed on plan, encouraging trading to date
Maintained market share in key product categories
2 new UK stores opened in Haverfordwest and Leamington Spa
Strong performance from Magasin du Nord
4 new international franchise stores opened, 1 closed
Michael Sharp, Chief Executive of Debenhams, said:
"Whilst this has been a challenging first half, we are clear on the issues and are taking decisive action to address them. In particular we are focused on building a more competitive multi-channel offer for our customers and improving the operational effectiveness of the overall business.
"The Debenhams brand remains strong with sales continuing to grow and a resilient market share performance. Whilst we remain cautious about the strength of the UK consumer recovery, I am confident the changes we are putting in place will provide a better customer experience and, over time, stronger results for our shareholders."
