UK retailers' shares suffered yesterday, with Argos parent Home Retail Group and department store chain Debenhams among the biggest percentage fallers, amid mounting evidence that cash-strapped consumers cannot deliver the customary festive lift.
UK retailers' shares suffered yesterday, with Argos parent Home Retail Group and department store chain Debenhams among the biggest percentage fallers, amid mounting evidence that cash-strapped consumers cannot deliver the customary festive lift.
Shares in clothing retailers Marks & Spencer, Next, and Ted Baker, Comet parent KESA Electricals, sportswear shop JD Sports, B&Q do-it-yourself chain parent Kingfisher, Mothercare and WH Smith all fell amid signs that heavy discounting has just not been enough to dispel the gloom hanging over festive sales volumes.
Bucking the trend yesterday were Game Group, which enjoyed a 3.5p or 3.1% rise in its share price to 115.25p, and HMV, which jumped 5p or 5.7% to 93p.
The rise in both of these stocks may have reflected hopes that computer gaming would, like last Christmas, be one of the strongest areas of festive spending.
However, Game Group shares last night closed at little more than one-third of their year high of 306p.
Shares in Home Retail Group plummeted 30.5p, or 13%, to 204p yesterday.
Debenhams lost 2p ,or 7.6%, to 24.5p. JD Sports dropped 15p, or 7.8%, to 178p.
Market researcher Experian said yesterday that UK shopper numbers at the weekend were down 8.7% on the same days last year.
Retailers had been hoping that weekend trading would be brisk, after a survey from the Confederation of British Industry last week showed early December had seen the biggest year-on-year drop in UK retail sales volumes since comparable records began in 1983.
Shares in Marks & Spencer were down more than 7% at one stage during yester- day's session. They recovered from this intra-day low of 210.5p to finish down 2.2%, or 5p, on the session at 220.75p.
Kesa ended 3.75p, or 4.3%, lower at 83.5p. Ted Baker lost 4.75p, or 1.4%, to 330.25p. Mothercare shed 7p, or 2.1%, to 330p. Kingfisher dropped 7.1p, or 5.1%, to 132.3p. WH Smith dipped 3.25p, or 0.9%, to 343.25p.
