Jessops chief executive Chris Langley has resigned from the troubled camera retailer as it updates on the first phase of its strategic review and confirmed that losses are set to hit £7.5 million.
In its pre-close statement Jessops, said sales for the 51 weeks to September 23 were down 7.5 per cent and like-for-like sales had slumped 8.7 per cent.
In June, Jessops announced that it would close a quarter of its stores and axe 550 jobs after notching up three profit warnings this year as it struggled against competition from pureplay retailers and supermarkets.
By the end of this week, more than 60 per cent of the 81 stores earmarked for closure will have closed. All remaining stores will close by the end of next month.
Jessops said clearance stock levels are higher than stated originally, at£17 million compared with the previous sum of£15.2 million. About 5 per cent of this will remain in the business by the end of next month.
Jessops said its cost reduction programme will deliver more than the£1.8 million identified at its support centre in June. Jessops also confirmed that its new banking arrangements have been signed.
The retailer said that exceptional costs will be higher than indicated at the time of the review, but its “focus on cash has meant that year-end debt will be better than expectations”.
Jessops executive chairman David Adams said: “We are track to deliver phase one of the turnaround plan and we are progressing with phase two in the autumn.”
Langley will step down at the end of November.
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