The PAS Group (ASX: PGR) share price is flat today but there's mounting evidence that Australian retailers are set to hand in disappointing interim profit reports for the six-month period ending December 31 2018.
PAS Group is the manufacturer or distributor behind popular retail fashion brands such as Bondi Bather, Marco Polo, BlackPepper and Everlast, but today warned investors that it was set to report EBITDA (operating income) at the lower end of prior guidance between $5 million to $7 million.
This prior guidance was quite a broad range and only issued on 30 November 2018, which infers the group has suffered a poor Christmas trading period.
The weak retail conditions this Christmas and through 2018 have seen retail shares slammed in Australia, with Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) also recently downgrading its profit guidance on the back of weaker-than-expected Christmas sales.
Today the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) consumer confidence survey also came in weaker than expected on the back of falling house prices and global share market falls, among other issues.
PAS Group shares have now collapsed in half in less than a year and the pain may not be over yet.
