Blacks outpaces High Street rivals

CAMPING and outdoor clothing group Blacks Leisure defied the High Street slowdown last year to turn in an 18% rise in annual profits today. The company pointed to solid performances at its Millets, Boardwear and Outdoors chains for the result, which was ahead of City expectations.

Shareholders were rewarded with a hefty boost in the final payout ? the dividend is up 30% to 7p, making a total of 10p for the year, a 25% increase.

Although bad weather has held back growth in the first few weeks of the new year, the drop in temperatures did mean that the company sold more cold weather products such as fleeces, hats, scarves and gloves, which helped compensate.

The results show the company managed to move ahead after reporting weak trading at its O'Neill surfwear chain earlier this year ? clearing stocks in Boardwear and weak trading at O'Neill were blamed at the time for reducing margins by almost 1%.

Blacks currently trades through almost 400 stores, including Millets and Blacks Outdoor. Blacks also sells surf and snowboard equipment in its chain of Free Spirit and Just Add Water stores. It is the UK distributor for O'Neill boarding equipment and operates some 15 O'Neill stores.

Like-for-like sales since February have eased and are up just 1.1% on the same period a year ago. Blacks said that the early Easter had also made a difference to trading. The company reported pre-tax profits including goodwill amortisation of £21.1m on the back of a 15% rise in turnover to £295m. After stripping out goodwill the figure was a more modest £18.72m, though still well ahead of forecasts.

The increase in sales to £294.9m, meanwhile, reflected a number of new store openings though even on a comparable basis sales growth came in at 8.1%, contrasting sharply with other retailers that have recently reported tough times on the High Street.

Today's results are the first overseen by new chief executive Russell Hardy, who joined late last year from Dolland & Aitchison. Chairman David Bernstein, meanwhile, said the current year would see it focus on organic growth but that it would consider any acquisition opportunities in the market. The company has a net cash balance of £11.2m, almost double the £5.9m it had a year ago.

'We believe all our fascias have significant potential for future expansion but we intend to take full advantage of our strength in the Outdoor sector to develop this part of the business significantly over the next few years. In the current year we are expecting further organic growth in the core businesses and we will also take advantage of any strategic acquisition opportunities that may arise,' Bernstein added.