Home Retail Group, which also owns Argos and Habitat, said in an interim management statement for the 18 weeks to January 5, that while Homebase sales declined to £453m, three stores were closed, bringing the number of sites to 337.
Like-for-like sales accounting for closed space meant the drop was 3.9% with a fall in gross margin of half of one per cent blamed on an increased level of clearance activity. Sales for the year to January 5 were down 5.6% at £1.24bn or 5.4% on a like-for-like basis.
"Whilst we anticipate consumer confidence will remain subdued in the coming year, we are focused on delivering the transformation plan to reinvent Argos as a digital retail leader and the ongoing development of the Homebase proposition," said HRG chief executive Terry Duddy.
Paul Loft, managing director of Homebase, said the company plans to redevelop the estate would likely take seven years. It recently spent £800,000 on the Ruislip store in west London, where it opened the first Habitat concession.
