High street stores hit badly
Sales at the retail arm of Victory Corporation, the group behind Virgin Cosmetics, fell over the Christmas period.

According to a statement released today, during November and December, sales at the direct selling operation increased by 22.6 per cent. For the same period, the group's 28 retail stores recorded a like-for-like sales decrease of 4 per cent.

Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner said: 'Victory has suffered as a result of the VAT issue and soft retail sales at its high street stores.'

However, he added: 'We leave our estimates unchanged, but next year should see a return to profitability and, going forward, Victory has the potential and the management to turn the company into an international direct-selling operation.'

The group said: 'For the first 38 weeks of the current financial year, overall sales for the group were up 17 per cent, with the direct-selling channel up 24 per cent. On a like-for-like basis, retail stores are down 6.9 per cent.'

Overall sales for Virgin Cosmetics during the nine weeks to December 31 were up 14.9 per cent.

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