Instore will target the value market by converting all of its core store portfolio to its Poundstretcher fascia as it seeks to curb losses that more than doubled in the year to February 28.

The group posted a pre-tax loss of £5.8m in the 52 weeks to February 28, more than twice the figure of £2.2m the previous year. Revenues fell by 0.3 per cent to £295.8m with like-for-like sales down 0.8 per cent.

As well as converting its shops to Poundstretcher, Instore will also seek to distinguish its smaller stores from its larger out of town stores by rebranding them to Poundstretcher Extra.

Although concerns have been reported on the financial stability of the company going forward the group said that it had secured backing from investor Crown Crest for the period to June 30, 2010. It said that this would accommodate for the potential risk of not achieving its forecasts in the ongoing turnaround of the business.

Instore chief executive Aziz Tayub said: “Since the beginning of the new financial year, the trading environment has continued to be challenging due to underlying economic factors and a very competitive marketplace. Although recent trading performance has been to some extent encouraging, and has supported the view that we are seeing the business beginning to stabilise, there remains much to do if this stabilisation is to become a true turnaround.”

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