GOLDEN DISCS has reported a loss of €1.5 million for the 15 months to June 2009, which the group described as “a very difficult trading period”.
Turnover for the 15 months was €22.9 million, compared to €25.6 million in the previous financial year to March 2008.
The Irish company, which went into examinership last year, said it had been “a very difficult year for Golden Discs and for the home entertainment market” in Ireland, and attributed its losses to a decline in consumer spending on non-essential items.
But in a statement issued yesterday, the company said it would survive its current difficulties. “We . . . fully expect to trade out of these difficult times,” it added.
The group has closed some loss-making stores as part of the examinership process.
It said costs relating to the examinership and the disruption to its business as a result of the corporate rescue process contributed to its losses.
This was further exacerbated by a deterioration in the trading terms it has with key suppliers, the company said.
Golden Discs, which emerged from the examinership in May 2009, said it was continuing to “aggressively attack” its cost base, but that the benefits would be “marginal”.
The group echoed the views of retail sector lobby groups on commercial rents, saying that they remained “unrealistically high”, with some landlords ignoring “the realities of the current trading environment”.
The company also cited “high legacy rates” from local councils, noting that some councils were seeking rate increases at a time when costs are coming down, and claiming that this “defies logic”.
Golden Discs, which employs 70 people, also blamed CD piracy and illegal downloading for threatening investment in new projects and criticised its rivals for trading in second-hand products.
“We have steered clear of trading in merchandise which we feel is of poor quality,” it said in a statement.
The company said it has introduced lower prices and new product lines, and boosted its promotional activity in order to improve its turnover.
