News roundup--Snow + Rock, Hobbs, Bathstore, more

Snow + Rock, the outdoor apparel and equipment specialist, blamed poor snow in the Alps for a decline in profits last year, reports The Sunday Times. EBITDA was down almost 13 percent from £8.6 million to £7.5 million. Sales were up 14 percent, however, to £65 million.

The Broadcast House and CatEx DCA have confirmed the closure of The Department Store TV channel. In its place will be “Optimised As Live” testing, a new and more flexible way of allowing companies to test teleshopping. With no central channel cost to cover, the standard package is now cheaper and also allows companies to reduce the risk of testing this new sales channel. This new format will enable those interested in TV shopping to test every variable: product, promotion, price, broadcast platform (Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview), individual TV stations, day of week and day part. This combines the best elements of The Department Store channel, with a testing approach similar to short-form advertising. Included in the package are three hours of selling content, divided into five-minute slots for efficient optimisation. Companies will also be able to use a reformatted version of the TV content online for as long as they wish.

Apparel chain Hobbs delivered a 7 percent sales rise to £112.2 million in the year ending January 2012. The chain, owned by private equity firm 3i, also saw EBITDA increase to £15 million, a rise of almost 5 percent, notes The Sunday Times.

Wolseley has divested its Bathstore business to a newly incorporated company backed by turnaround specialist Endless for £15 million payable over the next five years.  Endless is investing £11 million into the bathrooms and accessories business to fund its further development. In the nine months to 30th April 2012, Bathstore generated revenues of £66 million.

Experian has signed an agreement to sell PriceGrabber, its price comparison shopping business and North America online lead generation activities, which operate under the brands Classes USA and LowerMyBills. The buyer is Ybrant Digital, an India-based digital marketing services business, which paid $175 million. Experian says both businesses have been “non-core” for several years, and the agreed divestment is consistent with Experian's strategic focus on its credit information and analytics, digital marketing services and direct-to-consumer services.
Tottenham Hotspur FC has launch a new mobile commerce site giving fans access to the kit and merchandise currently available from their existing ecommerce site. The fully transactional site is browser-based and device independent. The site was developed by Priam Software.

Avon has said it will reconsider Coty’s bid for the business after it was raised to $10.7 billion. In a statement it said it will respond within a week.