Traders most negative on pound since 2016 as Brexit risks mount

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LONDON (Reuters) - British department stores group House of Fraser on Thursday said a surge in online sales had helped it to its best ever Christmas trading period. The group, which trades from 61 stores in Britain and Ireland and has annual sales of around 1.2 billion pounds, said like-for-like sales excluding VAT for the three weeks to December 28 rose 7.3 percent, with online sales up 57.7 percent. Like-for-like sales excluding VAT for the first 9 weeks of its fourth quarter were up 4.3 percent, the firm said, adding it expected to finish the year with lower net debt, which stood at 157.2 million pounds for the year to January 26, 2013. According to industry sources last month, French department store group Galeries Lafayette (GALP.UL) is in talks to buy House of Fraser. The firm, which made a loss before tax and exceptional items of 6.9 million pounds in its last fiscal year, has spent almost a decade under private ownership, but had been considering a return to the stock market after previous attempts at a possible trade sale failed. (Reporting by Neil Maidment, Editing by Paul Sandle) View comments
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