Jessops outlook.................

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Jessops said it expects its FY pre-tax loss before exceptional items to be significantly worse.

It will be more than the small loss announced on May 29th, and it will be worse than the equivalent loss of £7.5m last year.

It said trading since May 29th has not improved due to a worsening retail environment and those like-for-like sales in the 41 weeks ended July 13th fell 5.7%, with the last three weeks trending at an average of 11% down.

Photographic retailer Jessops said, however, it still expects full-year EBITDA to be ahead of last year's equivalent of £4.4m.

'The actions we have taken throughout the course of this year have resulted in a gross margin increase of over 200 basis points, significantly decreased overheads and stock levels,' Chairman David Adams said.

On May 29th, the company reported a pre-tax loss for the six months to March 30th of £11.2m, compared with a restated loss of £24.7m in the same period last year, while revenues fell 24.7% to £134.8m from £179m.

At that time, Jessops expected a small full-year loss before non-recurring charges and financing fees.
 
Such a shame that such a large company should go this way. I know they haven't helped themselves so much by opening so many stores staffed by people with no more knowledge than the average Dixons salesperson, but, still a shame.
 
What, so are Jessops closing down? Sorry I don't understand all this technical stuff!
 
I don't think they're closing down, just reporting big losses.
 
IIRC They've secured further funding from their bankers HSBC for a further year.

As the report says, stock levels have been reduced. My, have they in Norwich. Hardly anything Canon there:shake:
 
Would need to see their balance sheet to see what the real situation is.

Unfortunately this is a sign of the times, especially when they can't compete with the internet shops.
 
They need to lower the prices. I know higher prices will get bigger profits, but only if people buy in the first place. There is just too much competition from reputable online retailors for them to keep in the business.

They are a good store and some actually have staff that know more than it states on the box. I hate it when you ask a question and they just pick up the box and read the small print!

Its good that they will try to price match but it seems to be less and less frequent these days and some even state that the internet company has to be based within a certain radius of the store.
 
They can't lower their prices. They will find it very difficult to lower their prices with their overheads. The biggest costs for them excluding the goods are staff costs and shop related costs.
 
High St Photo retailers only survive on turnover of peripherals. The mark up [ie profit margin] on *cameras is almost negligible when you take into account their overheads.
All well and good you might say, but as the saying goes...'when they're gone they're gone'
Have you ever tried getting any advice from Argos :puke:
 
Personally, I don't mind paying a bit more to buy from a bricks and mortar store. The only shop I've ever shopped in, where I'd ask for the advice, is Aperture Photographic on Museum Street. However, if they don't have what I want, I'll still try to get it from Jessops or Jacobs (the two other shops I can get to), because I value the convenience, and customer service they offer.

The problems faced by Jessops and other photography shops are no different to all other electrical retailers, who are also suffering because of the internet, and I don't know how they can change their business model to make them more competitive - if the staff in the shops actually knew what they were talking about, maybe that would help?
 
The amount of rent that councils are charging businesses is huge! Jessops was once a good retailer, and going back a few years, my dad would always say Jessops are the cheapest. Since the dawn of the internet we have seen smaller retailers fall.

As many have already said in this discussion their prices are just too high in comparion to most other retailers, in swansea for example, there is a localy owned camera shop accorss the way from Jessops. I bought a few filters from the localy owned one, as they are normaly 50% cheaper than Jessops own brand, and the localy owned shop offers Hoya filters. This is just one example.

I work for a high street retailer, and i can tell you, margins on products are tight, with some making a loss, its the essentials they make their money back on, i.e memory cards, cases. These are typicaly 50%+ margin products.

Jessops really needs to look at its model though. I know a lot of products i have asked for, they just dont have in stock, and their normal answer is we can order it. There is no point in me driving in to Swansea, to order stock in Jessops, pay the higher price there, wait for deliver and go back and collect it. It would just make more sense to order it online.
 
30psi said:
Would need to see their balance sheet to see what the real situation is.

Unfortunately this is a sign of the times, especially when they can't compete with the internet shops.
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Ha, you don't need to see their books, just look at this chart of their share price for the last 24 months! :eek:



By admirable

They finished today at 4.5p
 
shocking, DSGI aint doing much better
 
Didn't realise their share price had collapsed like that. That's real bad
 
foodpoison said:
Speaking to a Jessops employee here.
Horrifically underpaid for the amount of sh*t I do and put up with, but hey.

I know what I'm talking about and I have a genuine interest in photography.
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Exactly, I used to work in Jessops. I enjoyed the job, but at the end of the day, it's a retail job, in a store on the high street, which means the pay is rubbish. Generally, anyone with any knowledge and interest will be too good for a high street retail job, because it doesn't pay enough. I worked at Jessops while I was at university, but I was never going to keep that job, because I then had a degree and could go and earn some real money!

Yes, Jessops can't compete with web prices, simply because there are overheads; staff, rent etc. It's going that way with all high street stores. Unfortunately, you get people who say "it's a shame that these stores are disappearing" but it's pretty likely that they're the same people that go into the store, get a load of free advice, then try and price match, and go and buy it on the Internet because Jessops won't give them the same price. Those people are time-wasters.

I used to love getting into a good discussion with a customer who wanted to buy a digital SLR, having a good photography discussion and actually helping them and giving them good advice, and it was good when they really appreciated, but it was frustrating when they took the advice and went out the door, never to be seen again.

Enter the downward spiral. Jessops tries to take less risks; puts less stock on the shelves, doesn't pay staff as much (so they're less willing and less intelligent), etc etc, and then people complain even more!

In my experience, Jessops began to phase out the knowledgeable photography enthusiasts from their management, and get in hardcore sales people, because it's all about sales. Selling a compact camera and a load of "addons" (memory cards, case, batteries etc etc) makes far more profit than selling a DSLR to a photographer. So in theory, the ideal staff member is just a good seller, rather than someone with a deep interest in photography. Photographers aren't the target market for Jessops, because they make hardly any profit on them, and they're the biggest timewasters, spending ages making decisions, coming in looking and playing with loads of different lenses. It's a lot easier to sell a £200 camera with £50 of stuff to a single mum who just wants to get in and out. If you do one of those every half an hour you make a lot more profit than you do standing with a photographer who can't make up his mind, for an hour, and then have him leave the store to think about it some more, or even if he does buy it, there's certainly a lot less profit from it.

The only way to save these companies is to buy some stuff from them! But like people have said, it's not just Jessops, it's the entire high street. The music shops, the family butchers, everything really.
 
I think the next stage in a bid to save the highstreet will be an "internet Tax". As crazy as it sounds, i think something as daft as this will be implemented in order to save the high street retailers. Its always nice to go back to a shop if something goes wrong, and not be passed about from person to person on the phone, only to have the phone put down on you. When you have a problem, people will always come back to the store for help and advice.
 
Martyn said:
Unfortunately, you get people who say "it's a shame that these stores are disappearing" but it's pretty likely that they're the same people that go into the store, get a load of free advice, then try and price match, and go and buy it on the Internet because Jessops won't give them the same price. Those people are time-wasters.
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You're right, but there are also plenty of people who try to give their trade to bricks and mortar stores (like me), but simply cannot justify the huge price differential. I for one research products by talking to people who have them, and reading up online, so don't abuse shops - if anything, I'm their dream customer - when I buy things from shops, I come along, say what I want, pay, and walk out.
 
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