Argos warns of shop closures after suffering sharp drop in sales

Argos has warned of store closures, after suffering significant sales declines last year, but it is too early to know if its Irish operations will be affected.

The high street catalogue-focused retailer operates 40 stores in Ireland, employing 1,300 people. The chain, yesterday, reported sales of just under £3.88 billion (€4.77bn) for the 12 months to the end of February; 8.9% down on the previous year. Operating profit was down by 57%, however, to £94.2m. There was no breakdown in terms of Irish performance.

On the back of the results, Terry Duddy — chief executive of Home Retail Group, which owns both Argos and Homebase — said that it is likely that up to 10 Argos stores will close over the next 12 months.