Beale Share Price (BAE)

Gross sales (inclusive of concession sales and VAT) up 23% as a result of the ARCS acquisition partway through 2011 l Like for like (excluding acquisitions, closures and week 53) gross sales declined 5.6% l Gross margin declined from 51.33% to 50.63% due to shift in product mix l Operating Loss before exceptional items reduced to £2.9m (2011: £3.8m) l Pre tax loss after exceptional items of £5.8m (2011: profit 0.5m)

Tonbridge lease Beale plc announces that its principal trading subsidiary, J E Beale plc (J E Beale), has signed a conditional agreement with Sainsburys which may give rise to the possible future surrender of the lease of its Tonbridge store. On signing of the agreement, J E Beale receives £1,000,000. The transaction is conditional on certain pre-conditions being satisfied within a 6 year period. If these conditions are satisfied then J E Beale will be obliged to surrender the lease of its Tonbridge store to Sainsburys. Upon completion J E Beale would receive a surrender premium of up to £3,000,000.

Is it a secret?

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT AND TRADING UPDATE TRADING UPDATE - MARCH 2012 16 March 2012 The Company reports that the total Group gross sales including concessions and VAT for the first 19 weeks of the year, to 10 March 2012, were 45.9% higher than the previous year. This increase was driven by the acquisition of 19 department stores from Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited which was completed on 22 May 2011, which increased the number of stores that the Group operates from 13 to 32. The Group has reviewed its trading stance over the period and reduced the frequency of 'mega day' discount events and consequently like for like sales including concessions and VAT for the 19 weeks to 10 March were 8.4% lower than the previous year. As noted in the Annual Report, trading in the current year has been significantly adversely affected by the difficult economic conditions faced by all retailers. With this in mind the Group has undertaken a major restructuring review of its operations and is in the process of implementing a series of strategies which were identified during the course of the review. Trading to date is consistent with the Board's expectation of total year performance.

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Mike Killingley Chairman commented: "Your Board regards the acquisition of the 19 ARCS stores as essential to the Group's strategy to achieve greater critical mass, to enable Beales to prosper in the modern retail environment and accelerate the restoration of profitability." The acquisition has increased our trading floor space by 80% from about 550,000 to 1 million square feet, and the number of stores we operate has increased from 13 to 32. There is considerable scope to improve the performance of the new stores to the levels currently achieved by Beales. We shall also be able to improve purchasing arrangements, and achieve economies of scale.