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UK household goods revenue fell 8 percent for Steinhoff's combined furniture and bedding operations, the international conglomerate said in a trading update over the weekend.


The figures it provided are for the nine-months to end June. Its third quarter update didn't provide any figures for the latest three month period (Apr–Jun) but these can be extrapolated from prior filings.


They underscore how tough the group found trading in that period.


Earlier this year, Steinhoff said UK household goods sales — essentially made up of Harveys and Bensons for Beds — were down 6 percent to €339 million at the half-year stage (Sep. 2017–Mar. 2018).


The difference between the six-month and nine-month figures is €155 million, giving us a third-quarter revenue figure.


That compares with €179 million for the third quarter of 2017 (Apr–Jun 2017) — a fall of 13 percent, providing an indication of just how impactful the market headwinds — unprecedented hot weather and the World Cup — proved to be.


In its filings, Steinhoff has also provided constant currency (sterling) and like-for-like comparisons, though the lack of actual sales figures to go with the percentage changes means it isn't easy to calculate the latest three-month figure.


At the half-year stage, sterling sales were down 3 percent and like-for-like just 0.5 percent.


By the nine-month dateline, sterling sales were down 6 percent and like-for-likes by 4 percent.


We can therefore say for certain that the situation was substantially worse in the third quarter for both measures, and with a degree of confidence that the percentage declines were in and around double-digits.


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