Jessops clicks with digital fans

DIGITAL cameras were one of the must-have gizmos of Christmas, High Street photographic chain Jessops said today. But a dive in the business of developing and processing traditional photos held back overall revenues over the period and will hurt profit margins, the chain admitted.

Jessops' Christmas trading snapshot showed a 25% leap in digital camera sales in the five weeks to 2 January.

'Despite a generally tough retail environment, our trading over Christmas held up well,' said chief executive Derek Hine. 'While it remains early days, [current] trading has maintained the momentum of 2004 with continued evidence of the strong demand for digital products.'

However, in a competitive market, the margins to be had on camera sales are slim and Jessops was forced to admit that with sales in its lucrative developing and processing business down 4%, overall margins in the period were hit.

Like-for-like sales growth in its stores in December was 4.5%, down from 6% in the autumn. Including direct mail and internet sales, Christmas like-for-likes rose 6.2%.

The news pushed Jessops' newly quoted shares down 1¾p to 162p in early trading. After some false starts, the company finally floated in November at 155p following a late cut from a previously-indicated 185p-to-220p range.