Ill wind brings Postie Plus no good as shares slide

The unseasonably cool weather has clothing retailers despairing, with sales of summer clothing hit the hardest.

"It's been bad," said Postie Plus managing director Paul Young, whose company said yesterday that it expected a drop in full-year profit.

The news shaved 4c of its shares, which closed yesterday at 90c, a low for the year.

All retailers were discounting heavily, but Young said it would be impossible to make up the lost ground.

"It's not possible to recoup it. You've got to grin and bear it," he said.

The group said its profitability for 2004-05 would be "below the previous year" but did not elaborate.

ASB Securities broker Stephen Wright said as no numbers were provided it was difficult to analyse what was going on, which probably meant the market would punish the stock in much the same way Briscoe Group was hit on Monday.

Briscoe dived 20c after Friday's announcing that its full-year profit will probably fall by 26 per cent. The shares recovered slightly yesterday to close up 2c at $1.12

Wright said branding was also a factor. High-end clothing sellers, such as children's retailer Pumpkin Patch, had overcome the unseasonable weather.

On Monday, Pumpkin Patch said it expected its net profit to increase 48 per cent for the year to July, to no less than $23 million, compared with the $15.5 million posted the previous year.

- NZPA, PETER GRIFFIN