Smiths City full year profit falls as sales slip

Smiths City full year profit falls as sales slip
By Suze Metherell June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Smiths City Group, the Christchurch-based department store chain, posted a 24 percent decline in annual profit on weaker appliance sales. Profit was $4.1 million for the year ended April 30, below $5.4 million the year prior, the retailer said in a statement. Sales fell 0.8 percent to $220.7 million. "This reflects increasing returns through the furnishings side of the retail business, the finance company and the property division offset by a disappointing result from the appliance side of the...