Jessops buoyed by digital demand

Camera specialist Jessops impressed the markets with its snapshot of trading today as it prepared for life without the executive who led it through the digital revolution.

Jessops said like-for-like sales in the 25 weeks to March 26 were 2.6% ahead of the same stage of 2005 despite Easter falling later this year.

Its estate of 288 stores faced a retail environment that continued to be tough, but Jessops reported better margins as it focused on exclusive merchandise deals together with developing and printing.

UK-based Jessops has six stores in the North and one in Dublin.

Consumers were also showing a willingness to replace their old digital cameras with new ones as technology improves.

Jessops said sales of high-performance SLR cameras were up 52% by value at a time when the comparable sales growth for digital cameras overall was a more modest 15%.

Demand was underpinned by an advertising campaign that trumpeted the merits of state-of-the-art cameras that offer improved features such as larger screens, higher quality lenses and longer battery life.

Shares in Jessops rose 5% as the company said its half-year results would be in line with its expectations, adding that like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to March 19 were down 0.8% after stripping out the impact of Easter.

The trading update is one of the last to be delivered by chief executive Derek Hine after he announced plans to retire when the company delivers its interim results on May 17.

Mr Hine, who was in charge for eight years and masterminded the company’s flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2004, will be succeeded by chief operating officer Chris Langley.