Bookseller Ottakar's warns of profits shortfall

Shares in UK book shop chain Ottakar’s slumped today after it said a lacklustre Christmas season had left annual profits running below market hopes.

The group, which has 131 stores, said a 2.2% rise in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to January 1 failed to match levels earlier in the year.

It warned that sales for the financial year to January 29 were now likely to be £2.5m (€3.55m) below expectations, with profits for the same period set to miss current market forecasts of £8.9m (€12.65m). It put analysts on standby for profits of not less than £7m (€9.9m), compared with £6.1m (€8.7m) a year earlier.

The update sent shares in the company down by 13% – off 43p at 289.5p.

Chairman Philip Dunne said the prospects for the company remained strong but that the festive season had been slow to get going: “Christmas came relatively late this year for Ottakar’s, in common with several other retailers.”

Ottakar’s said the best-selling titles during the period included Michael Palin’s Himalaya, Mick Wall’s biography of the late John Peel and Sheila Hancock’s autobiography of her life with John Thaw.