Arcadia to shut 55 more stores

Clothing retailer Arcadia is planning to close an extra 55 stores due to deepening financial worries.

Clothing retailer Arcadia is planning to close an extra 55 stores due to deepening financial worries.

The news came as the group showed it had plunged heavily into the red, reporting a pre-tax loss of £152.5 million in the year to August 26.

The company, which runs Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins is the worst performing retail group in Europe, and had already announced the closure of 400 stores earlier in the year.

Arcadia said it had yet to identify exactly which extra stores would be closing, or how many staff it would be looking to relocate.

Losses were worsened by a one-off £144 million costs from a review and its closure programme, another £31 was spent integrating its Sears Womenswear brand.

However the company is hopeful that it is turning the corner, with figures showing some encouragement in like-for-like sales.