Cotton price rises hit Esprit figures

CLOTHING retailer Esprit gave further evidence of the squeeze on consumer spending yesterday when it posted a 3.1 per cent fall in sales for the nine months to 31 March.

The company, which is based in Hong Kong but sells 80 per cent of its products in Europe, said turnover dropped from HK$26.7 billion (2.1bn) a year ago to HK$25.9bn.

Esprit - which has about 50 stores in the UK, including a branch in Edinburgh - revealed in February that it would switch its textile sourcing to Bangladesh from southern China to cut costs after first-half profits fell by 21 per cent.

Like many clothing retailers, the firm is feeling the squeeze from rising cotton prices.