Blacks Leisure Reports Difficult Trading
The rise and rise of leisure wear company Blacks Leisure in the 1980s and 1990s was for many a reflection of the general economic boom times experienced throughout much of that period. However, the last few years have seen more and more problems besetting the group, resulting in an alarming fall from grace.
This week the group reported a loss of £9.3 million for the year to March, and while an improvement on the previous year’s loss of £13.8 million, core trading seems to have deteriorated substantially. The directors of Blacks Leisure also revealed they had found a £2 million ‘black hole’ in the accounts and the extra funding needed to plug the gap. On top of this the group reported a 4.1% fall in like for like sales over the past 12 weeks and a total review of the business strategy going forward.
Many analysts believe that this may be a sign of things to come for many of the UK’s ‘luxury’ retailers, those who are often the first to suffer when consumers look to reduce their outgoings. It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks and months pan out, but there are concerns that trade is deteriorating faster than many expected.
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