Matalan’s total revenues fell by 8% to £263.6 million in the 13 weeks to 27 May after the clothing and homewares retailer was hit by the cost-of-living squeeze and cool spring weather.
In a trading update, the company said it had noticed that fewer customers were spending on non-essential items as the weather delayed spending on spring wardrobe items.
Meanwhile, Matalan’s restated EBITDA under IAS 17 came in at £2.1 million compared to £20.2 million at the same time in the prior year.
However, trade picked up in the five weeks to 1 July with sales increasing by 5.5% to £122.5 million.
The company said its new leadership team had made an immediate positive impact which made it confident of a step change in year-on-year profitability in the second half of the year.
As a result, Matalan is expecting its full year EBITDA to be in the range of £60 million to £65 million, driven by a strengthened leadership approach and a wider transformation programme.
