Haynes bumped by UK decline

5th Oct 2010 08:53

Haynes Publishing is stuck firmly in reverse Tuesday, hitting an eight-month low, after the car repair manuals firm said first quarter revenue had fallen sharply in the UK.Turnover dropped 12% at both the UK automotive and Haynes Book divisions during the 13 weeks to 31 August."We have seen heavy returns from key retailers coupled with increased discounting," the company said, while revenue from professional manuals publisher Vivid, up 1% in local currency, dropped 3% in sterling terms.It was better in the US and Australia though where sales in local currency ended the period up 1% on last year and ahead by 8% when reported in sterling. "Trading performance for the first 13 weeks of the financial year and for the period up to the date of this statement for the overall Haynes Group is tracking in line with last year," Haynes said. "However, whilst this time last year we were reporting stronger sales in the UK and Europe and softer trading in the US, this year we are experiencing the same situation in reverse."