Matalan sees sales fall in tough Q3

DISCOUNT clothing and and homewares retailer Matalan has revealed a drop in third quarter sales, but still expects full year growth.

The Skelmersdale-based group, which has more than 200 stores nationwide, said trading in the 13 weeks to November 29, had been “very challenging”.  

The company said total revenue was £298m, down from £321m for the same quarter in 2013/14. EBITDA dropped from £41.5m to £39.6m.

Managing director Jason Hargreaves said: “The business has delivered a resilient margin performance in what was a very challenging sales environment. A tightly bought seasonal range has insulated us well from significant margin dilution with the Boxing Day sale commencing with lower stock volumes than last year.”

Matalan said it expects full year EBITDA of £85.9m, an increase of 5.7% on last year.

Mr Hargreaves, whose father John founded the business, added: “In what has been a year of supply chain transition, our change programme has progressed well and nears completion. Alongside this, we have successfully opened our first true city centre store format in Cardiff.”

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