Jessops announces results of hard year

Tough times for high street giant

14 December 2007 12:00 GMT / By Katie Scott

Jessops has announced its full year results at the end of an annus horribilis.

The high street retailer has had a difficult year, in which it closed 81 stores and had a major management reshuffle, that included the departure of its chief executive.

However, the company has now announced that its strategic review has now been completed. As part of this, Jessops has reduced its central overheads by 20% and had disposed of £16.8m of clearance stock by the end of October.

The report details that Jessops' loss for the year up to 30 September was in line with expectations.

It had a total revenue of £325.5m, as compared to £350m in 2006.

The company now hopes to concentrate on building its share of the DSLR market, further enhancing its Order@store service, which was launched in August and reviewing its supply chain review.

David Adams, the executive chairman, said in a statement: "We have put the business in a stronger position for the future. Despite challenging market conditions we have delivered on our initial goals, with the restructuring programme and have set out the strategic framework for the business to operate from; we have solid relationships with suppliers and an enviable market position; and our programme to deliver sustainable profitability in the future is on track, although there is clearly a long road ahead. The Christmas period is hugely important to the business."

He admitted that the going was still hard, but was confident that the company can cope. He concluded: "Whilst trading conditions remain tough we are well prepared with good stock availability and the key period is still to come."

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