Woolworths has told investors that it is struggling to increase sales in its stores.

Not surprisingly, the news sent the store's share price sharply lower.

Woolworths' chairman, Gerald Corbett, told his company's annual meeting that although sales across the group had increased in the past 15 weeks, sales in the Woolworths main chain had fallen 1%.

The worst performance came from the city centre stores, where sales were 3% lower compared with the same period last year.

Fortunes

But the out of town Big W shops did manage to sell more.

The group demerged from Kingfisher last year, and investors had been hoping that Mr Corbett and the rest of the management team would have been able to turn its fortunes round more quickly.

Woolworths' poor performance was echoed by the Allders department store chain.

In the six months to March its profits before exceptional items fell to �13.2m from �14.1m.

Discount sale better

The company said that sales at stores opened in 2001 had taken longer to build than expected.

The chief executive, Harry Lipsith, said part of the problem had been the "challenging sales environment" but he said much of it had been the result of deliberate actions taken to improve and reposition Allders.

The company is opening a new department store in London's Oxford Street on Thursday.

There was better news from the discount retail retailer, Peacock.

Spending on furniture

Its profit for the year to the end of March, before tax and exceptional items, was up 28.4% to �16.4m.

Some of this was thanks to sales at Woolworths because Peacock is selling its clothes in all of the Big W stores and some of the High Street shops.

As far as its own stores are concerned, it says it is adopting a new Peacocks logo, fascia and store layout.

Shoppers were also spending on furniture and textiles.

Bright spot

Homestyle, which took over Harveys stores, reported pretax profit before exceptional items of �36m in the year to March compared with �28.5m last time.

And it said that trading had gathered momentum since March.

But one of the brightest spots on the High Street seems to be the privately-owned BHS chain.

It reported a 202% increase in profits to �102m in the year to the end of March.