Laura Ashley H1 sales and profit decline

For the 26 weeks to December 31, 2017, Laura Ashley Holdings Plc reported sales of 134.7 million pounds (189 million dollars), a fall of 7.7 percent. This overall fall, the company said, was primarily due to the closure of 25 stores during the second half of last year. Like-for-like retail sales for the period fell by 0.5 percent. Total ecommerce sales grew to 26.9 million pounds (37.7 million dollars), an increase of 5.1 percent. Gross margin fell to 38.5 percent and due to the impact of the weakening of sterling, group profit before taxation declined to 4.3 million pounds (6 million dollars).