SYDNEY: Specialty Fashion Group has announced a decline in sales for the first half of the current financial year, amid news of store closures across flood-ravaged Queensland.
The group announced sales of $313 million in the six months to December 31, 2010, down 1.6 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
It said comparable stores sales growth for the period was down 3.8 per cent, which contrasted the prior year's first half growth of 8.9 per cent.
The fashion group expects that its EBITDA for the first half of the current financial year to be in the range of $33 to $34 million.
It cited challenging trade and interest rate rises as causes for cautious consumer spending.
The womenswear brand house has suffered flood damage to four of its Queensland stores in the January floods, with 41 of its stores required to close in vulnerable areas across the Gympie, Toowoomba and Brisbane.
The Sydney-based company operates 880 stores nationally across Millers, Crossroads, Katies, Autograph, City Chic and La Senza.