WHITAKERS department store has 'seen the worst' of the downturn in retail tradings, its owner said on Tuesday.

Beale, which owns Whitakers and 11 other stores across Britain, has announced full year figures showing slightly increased profits despite falling sales and turnover, as well as good Christmas figures in Bolton and nationwide.

Bournemouth-based Beale released its results for the 52 weeks ending October 29, which revealed sales for the period fell by 0.8 per cent from £109.6 million in 2004 to £108.7 million. The company said turnover was reduced by 5.1 per cent to £61.9 million, down from £65.3 million in 2004.

This was due to the increased percentage of floor space taken by concessions across its stores.

Profit before tax increased to £0.22 million, up from £0.09 million last year, but part of that was from the sale of the former site of the Walton-on-Thames store.

The company was encouraged by trading in the 11 weeks to January 14, with sales up by 7.1 per cent on the previous year.

During the five-week Christmas trading period to December 31, sales increased by 3.6 per cent at Whitakers, and by 10.9 per cent for the group.

Allan Allkins, Beale's chief executive, said: "Against the background of exceptionally harsh trading conditions, we are pleased that our like-for-like sales have proved to be much more resilient than for some others.

"The right product assortment has never been more important to the success of any retail business and we have made good progress in a number of areas."

Chairman Mike Killingley said: "Whilst the level of profit is unacceptably low, our sales and margin performance have been stronger than those of many retailers.

Our business is in better shape than it has been for some time, and has the scope to outperform, and to restore more acceptable levels of profitability in the medium term."