Aga suffers sales fall but Debenhams bucks trend

Sales at Shropshire-based cooker manufacturer Aga fell three per cent in 2011, but there was better news on the high street as Debenhams did well over Christmas.

Aga, which has a foundry at Coalbrookdale and its head office in Ketley, reported 'satisfactory' trading despite revenues falling three per cent to £251 million.

The company expects pre-tax profits to have risen in the period.

Overall sales of cast iron cookers were down but the Aga Total Control, the first oven made by the company which can be switched on and off quickly, contributed to a third of all orders in the second half of the year.

Chief executive William McGrath said: "We recently launched a formidable range of products that will drive us forward in 2012."

Elsewhere, Marks & Spencer said weak homeware sales had dragged Christmas performance down after reporting a 1.8 per cent decline in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks up to December 31, although its food sales rose three per cent in the same period.

But bosses at Debenhams said they were pleased with its Christmas trading performance, with like-for-like sales including up 6.5 per cent in December, compared with a year earlier.

And homeware retailer Dunelm saw like-for-like sales for the half year ended December 31 grow by 1.1 per cent, contributing to an 8.8 per cent rise in total revenue for the period.