Monsoon hit by flood of excess stock

Clothing retailer Monsoon today said tough trading conditions had left it with a glut of stock at the start of its winter sale.

Monsoon, which also owns Accessorize, reported a 5% increase in like-for-like sales for the six weeks to January 7 but said this was a result of “significantly higher than planned” stock levels in the sale.

It came as the firm posted an 8% hike in pre-tax profits before exceptional items to £30.1m (€44m) for the six months to November 26.

Chairman Peter Simon, who is in talks to buy the 24.6% stake he and his family do not own, said in July that the outlook was uncertain and predicted a lack of consumer confidence in the high street.

He said today: “This underestimated the very difficult trading conditions that ensued through the Autumn season when we experienced a decline in like-for-like sales until Christmas.”