Carphone to do the best for its stores

The group, which opened its sixth 'Big Box' outlet in Derby yesterday, said customer feedback had been "highly encouraging" but it needed more marketing activity than initially planned.

As a result, it now expects losses from Best Buy UK to be in the range of 50m to 55m, up 10m on its forecast in April.

The 'Big Box' megastores have thrown down the gauntlet to rivals such as Currys owner DSG International and Comet firm Kesa Electricals by offering initiatives such as a trade-in service.

Carphone's Best Buy Europe business, which also includes its high street mobile phone stores, is a 50-50 joint venture with US firm Best Buy. Carphone raised its guidance for full-year results after strong demand for smartphones resulted in a sharp jump in its share of profits from Best Buy Mobile US.

It said Carphone's core stores in Europe continued to perform strongly with like-for-like revenues up 2.4 per cent in first half.