Laura Ashley plays down sales dip

Fashion chain Laura Ashley saw sales fall in the first 17 weeks of its financial year but the decline may have reached a turning point.

The retailer, famous for its floral patterns, said yesterday that total sales fell 4.5 per cent in the 17 weeks to 28 May, although part of that was down to the closure of 19 unprofitable stores since January 2010. Like-for-like sales were down by just 1.3 per cent.

In an interim management statement, Laura Ashley said: "Retail sales improved in the second half of this 17-week period.

"When the company announced its last financial year results on 31 March, like-for-like sales for the first eight weeks of the current financial year were down by 4.2 per cent.

"Due to better performance in the subsequent nine weeks, the overall decline in like-for-like sales was reduced."

Laura Ashley operates 214 stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.