LONDON (Brand Republic) – House of Fraser is blaming heavy losses in the first half of the year on the poor performance of rival retailer Marks & Spencer.
Chief executive John Cole said stores had been forced to slash sale prices further because M&S was discounting its products so heavily. He added M&S’s problems had cast a shadow over retailing as a whole, discouraging people to buy.
Losses were £6.6m in the first half of the year, although like-for-like sales rose 4.9% in the six months ending June 29.