Member Article

Home Retail Group profits hit by Argos restructuring

The Home Retail Group profits have taken a hit from the restructuring of Argos, as well as PPI repayments.

Profits were up to £112.6 million, but this was before the cost incurred through the restructuring of Argos (£27.8 million) and customer redress for missold PPI for which a £25 million facility has been arranged.

Sales however were reportedly up 3% to £5,663 million.

They attributed their growth in revenue to “increased internet penetration” in which online sales accounted for 44% of Argos’ total, including mobile commerce which grew 89% to account for 18% of total sales.

Homebase’s multi-channel sales also grew by 53%.

John Coombe, chairman of Home Retail Group, commented: “The Group has delivered a good financial performance in the year and it has maintained its strong financial position with a year-end cash balance of £331 million.

“The Board remains mindful of both the investment needs of the Group and the importance of the dividend to our shareholders and, after careful consideration, it is recommending a final dividend of 2.3 pence and thus a full-year dividend of 3.3 pence. This represents a 10% increase against the previous year.

“I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Terry Duddy who, over the last 15 years, the last seven as Chief Executive of Home Retail Group, has contributed so much to the Group.

“We wish Terry every success for the future. I would also like to welcome John Walden, who has been running Argos for the last two years, to the Board as our new Chief Executive.”

Photo: Copyright Betty Longbottom and licensed for reuse under thisCreative Commons Licence.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .