Allders bounces back after hiccup

SALES at department stores group Allders are running ahead of last year's level, despite plummeting for a week after the bombing began in Afghanistan last month, chief executive Harvey Lipsmith said.

But one worry now must be the continued independence of the group, having previously fought off House of Fraser bid interest. Lipsmith described bid rumours as 'pure speculation'. The share price rose 1p to 159 1/2p.

However, he has clearly decided to keep his two biggest stakeholders, Minerva with 18.3% and Axa Sun Life with 12% of the equity, sweet by offering hope of a resumption in 'progressive dividend policy'. For the past five years dividends have been frozen, despite the shares yielding 5%.

In the year to September, Allders pushed like-for-like sales up 6.4% and completed 25% of its five-year programme of new store openings. Work on its latest, the former C&A store at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street, starts in January, for a mid-2002 opening. This will also become the company's headquarters. Pre-tax profits increased by 6.7% to £14.4m with the total dividend held at 8.4p a share.