The Bookseller.com

13th October 2008

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Sales accelerate at Waterstone's

09.05.08 Graeme Neill

Gerry Johnson managing director of Waterstone's has told The Bookseller that the business is now in a growth phase, after a trading statement put out this morning showed that Waterstone's has seen its sales growth accelerate in the last 16 weeks of its financial year with like-for-like sales up by 6.6%.

"We have definitely stopped the decline and we are now growing," managing director Gerry Johnson said, adding that a "very strong performance" from books was at the "heart of this growth". He said: "I think the whole base of our strategic programme is coming through and we are seeing very good results. We are very pleased."

The results suggest that Waterstone's stores have been peforming better since Christmas, when its sales grew by 4% on a like-for-like basis. Johnson said that in the post Harry Potter trading period growth had "accelerated". "We were delighted to support Harry Potter but the growth was across 10,000 titles."

The performance bodes well for its full-year results, which will be released on 1st July. In the 52-weeks ending 26th April, the bookseller said that its like-for-like sales growth was 3.3%, though this includes a period when it has closed a number of underperforming shops. Last year it reported a drop in full-year like-for-like sales of 4.1%.

Total sales at Waterstone's were up 4.7% in the financial year, with sales expected to be around £563m, compared with £537.5m reported last year. Total sales growth in the 16 weeks to 26 April was 3.4%.

"We are well placed for the year ahead," Johnson said. "It's a competitve market and I don't think there's any sign of that changing which is great news for the customer. They will get a great range of books from booksellers and they are enjoying good value."

At the HMV chain, full-year like-for-like sales grew by 11.4%, with total sales growth of 15.4%.

HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "As we complete the first full year of our three-year turnaround plan, we are ahead of where we expected to be. We have made good progress driving forward our strategic initiatives to increase efficiency, revitalise our core business and establish new channels to market. We still have much to do, but I am confident that the group is well positioned for the next phase of our transformation."

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