Top retailers add to sector's woes with sales falls

Published on Thursday 15 January 2009 09:19

A FLURRY of negative announcements from some of the country's biggest names in retail today added to the sector's gloom.

PC World and Currys owner DSG International topped the list of those recording like-for-like sales declines, reporting double-digit declines for UK electricals and UK computing operations.

Double-digit declines were also reported at Homebase, while Argos, Halfords and Clinton Cards were all also among those to suffer hefty drops.

The figures give a clear sign that, despite footfall rising on last year in many city centres including Edinburgh, customers did not spend enough to make it a healthy Christmas for retailers.

Because DSG International's main chains PC World and Currys both rely on sales of "big-ticket" items, it has been among those worst affected.

Its total group like-for-like sales declined by ten per cent in the 12 weeks to January 10. The UK electricals division declined by 12 per cent and computing was down 13 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

DSG chief executive John Browett said: "The sales pattern through the period was as we anticipated, with customers waiting for the post-Christmas sales to purchase discretionary products, particularly televisions and laptops."

Home Retail Group said its Homebase chain saw like-for-like sales decline by 10.2 per cent in the 18 weeks to January 3. And it said that its Argos brand, traditionally one of the better performers over Christmas, suffered a 7.5 per cent decline in like-for-like sales.

Home Retail chief executive Terry Duddy said: "Our markets continue to be significantly impacted by the sharp reduction in consumer spending."

Halfords said like-for-like sales slumped by 7.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to Boxing Day.

Chief executive David Wild said: "As we enter 2009, we anticipate that the consumer environment will remain challenging for the whole retail sector."

Elsewhere, a two per cent decline at Waterstone's weighed on owner HMV, which had performed well with a three per cent like-for-like sales rise in the five weeks to January 2.

Clinton Cards, which also owns Birthdays, said like-for-like sales declined by 4.1 per cent, while Carphone Warehouse's Talk Talk division saw revenues fall by two per cent in the third quarter.