Bottom Line: Search for stability

KEITH EDELMAN, the latest recruit to the Storehouse hot seat, has added a new item to the group's priorities - stability.

Given the speed with which executives have come and gone - three chief executives and four finance directors in five years - that will be a significant change.

Yesterday's results, while impressive, emphasise how slow the process of restoring acceptable profitability will be. At Mothercare more family-friendly stores and lower prices did push sales and market share ahead. But, with net margins at just 1.5 per cent and the new pricing policy eating into the gross - albeit, the group hopes, temporarily - the return is a long way from being acceptable.

That is also true for BhS, where the profits increase would have looked a lot more pedestrian without a pounds 3m fall in the rent bill.

A 5 per cent rise in like-for-like sales is better than some of its rivals, but it will need far more than that if it is to get sales per square foot - pounds 193 last year - anywhere near the pounds 400-plus enjoyed by Marks and Spencer.

The market has recently had second thoughts about rating Storehouse as the second Next, and its shares have underperformed the market by about 20 per cent since Mr Edelman took over, although yesterday's 17p rise to 200p reversed some of that.

On forecasts of about pounds 65m for the current year, that puts it on 18 times - in line with the stores sector. While it should grow faster than some of its rivals, until Mr Edelman delivers stability the rating looks fair.