House of Fraser in profit rise

Wednesday 9th September 2009, 10:07AM BST.

House of Fraser, owner of Beatties in Dudley and Wolverhampton, today reported a solid performance for the first half of the year, with underlying profits up 16 per cent.

The business, taken private by the Highland Acquisitions consortium in 2006, said retail earnings were £10.7 million in the 26 weeks to July 25, up from £9.2 million pounds at the same point last year.

This was despite a fall in sales at its stores that had been open for more than a year, down 2.7 per cent over the six months.

But trading has been improving, with figures rising 0.5 per cent over the last three months of the half-year.

View more: Dudley news, Wolverhampton news.