Topshop parent Arcadia suffers 40% slide in profits

UK retail mogul Sir Philip Green today said his retail empire had seen a near 40% slide in profits as chains including Top Shop and Miss Selfridge chose not to pass on increasing costs to cash-strapped customers.

Arcadia Group, which also includes BHS, Burton and Evans, reported underlying pre-tax profits of £133.1m (€154.6m) compared with £213.1m last year, as like-for-like sales including VAT fell 1.8%.

Sir Philip said the company, which has 2,507 stores across its brands, saw margins squeezed by 1.8% as it took a £53m hit to absorb price increases.

Elsewhere, the company reported a bottom-line loss of £120m after writing down the value of “certain onerous leases” across the estate due to the challenging economic conditions.