UK value women’s wear retailer Bonmarché has issued a profit warning for the full financial year as the summer heatwave and a weak high street led to sales that were below expectations in the second quarter.

In a trading update today (27 September), Bonmarché said while online sales continued to grow strongly in the period, in-line with expectations, in-store sales have not maintained the momentum gained during the first quarter and are “below expectations”.

“The continuation of warm weather for an extended period may have delayed demand for early autumn stock, but we believe that the more dominant factor is that underlying consumer demand for the UK high street is weaker which is impacting footfall,” the retailer said.

As a result, Bonmarché is now expecting underlying profit before taxation for the group for fiscal 2019 to be about GBP5.5m (US$7.2m). This compares to GBP8m for FY18.

The retailer booked a positive start to the year earlier this summer, reporting a 2.7% rise in total sales for the first quarter. 

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