Comet suffers 4pc drop in sales

The owner of the Comet electricals chain said the UK business maintained market share in the first four months of the year, despite a 4 per cent drop in like-for-like sales over the period.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th May 2010, 13:48 BST
Updated 13th May 2010, 13:48 BST

Comet, which is owned by European retailer Kesa, is facing increased competition from a resurgent Currys owner DSG International, while US-based BestBuy has just embarked on a major opening programme in the UK.

The scale of the sales drop partly reflects tougher comparatives as Kesa said the chain held its share of the market and improved its margin performance.

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Across the group, which also trades as Darty in France, profits for the year to April 30 are expected to be significantly ahead of last year and in line with the current average of market expectations at 76m.

Chief executive Thierry Falque-Pierrotin said: "We are satisfied that overall the group traded in line with or ahead of its markets during the seasonally quiet period and we are encouraged by the improvement we have seen in gross margin."

Like-for-like revenues fell by 1.2 per cent across the group, although it is thought that January's poor weather conditions knocked two percentage points from the figure.

Kesa is hoping next month's World Cup in South Africa will boost demand for televisions.

Like-for-like sales at Darty France were up 0.5 per cent in the quarter, while the performance in developing countries such as Spain was encouraging, up 10.2 per cent.

Related topics:CurrysFrance