Executive Summary

• UK department store retailer Debenhams reported group comps of +0.5% at constant currency, surpassing the consensus estimate of (0.9)%, in the 18 weeks ended January 7, 2017.
• UK comps grew by 1.0% and online sales jumped by 13.9%—an acceleration from last year’s +12.1%.
• Gross margin guidance for FY17 remains in the range of 25bps to (25)bps, as previously announced by Debenhams.