Currys owner in bullish mood as it plays down fears of a double-dip

The group offered the rosy outlook as it met forecasts for first-quarter trading, with sales boosted by the World Cup and strong demand for Apple's iPad.

DSG - soon to change its group name to Dixons Retail - also predicted a rerating of its shares as it delivers an improved trading performance.

Chief executive John Browett said: "In terms of the economic environment, we're not in the double-dip school, we don't see any evidence of that in the way that consumers are spending.

"Although it's not a normal market, we're still in recovery, neither is it a disaster," he added, highlighting a stream of new products for Christmas, including 3D televisions, LED backlit TVs, Apple's iTouch and motion-sensor gaming devices.

Browett stressed that DSG's recovery was not dependent on economic recovery.

"It's dependent on how we get on with the renewal and transformation plan and we're very pleased with the progress on that," he said.

The firm highlighted a 6 per cent jump in sales at its UK and Ireland division, helping to drive a 3 per cent lift in group-wide comparable revenues in the 12 weeks to 24 July.

It said its UK business was buoyed by an exclusive deal to market the iPad, as well as promotions surrounding the World Cup.

DSG, which runs the Currys and PC World chains in Britain, UniEuro in Italy, Elkjop in Nordic countries, and Kotsovolos in Greece, is two years into a turnaround plan focused on selling underperforming businesses, cutting costs, revamping stores, opening larger outlets, and improving product ranges and customer service.

The programme has been well received by analysts, although shares have underperformed the UK general retailers index over the last month.

Browett said: "We've got a very stable group of long-term investors who take very big positions in our stock. The reason they've done that is that they know that if we are successful the returns are there."

Seymour Pierce analyst Kate Calvert said the group was moving beyond a high risk, early stage, recovery story "with management's medium-term margin target of 3-4 per cent looking increasingly achievable".

Many big European retailers are struggling with consumers reluctant to splash out on big-ticket items such as large-screen TVs and white goods amid fears that taxes and unemployment will rise as governments cut spending and raise taxes. A report this week from Bank of Scotland showed Scottish consumer confidence had remained in negative territory in July - the fifth month in a row.

DSG said its UK & Ireland business grabbed greater market share during the three months, despite competition from new market entrant Best Buy.