Weather did not put a freeze on Debenhams' performance

DEPARTMENT store Debenhams said it had not been blown off course by the weather despite losing an estimated £30 million of sales to the snow.

Having seen improved trading in the autumn, the chain said like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to 8 January were reduced by between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent due to the snow, leaving same-store sales across the period 1.3 per cent lower on a year earlier. Chief executive Rob Templeman said he was pleased with the festive performance, particularly as industry figures showed the company gained market share, including in men's and children's clothing.

He added that he expected the company to make progress over the coming months, despite remaining cautious about the strength of consumer confidence.

Matthew McEachran, a retail analyst at Singer Capital Markets, estimated the hit to sales caused by weather disruption cost the company in the region of 30m in lost sales and 13m in gross profit.

He said the underlying performance of the business and strategic changes meant Debenhams should be able to offset much of the damage over the remaining 33 weeks of its financial year.