facebook rss twitter

Mixed trading news from Tesco

by Scott Bicheno on 16 January 2008, 11:39

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qak7l

Add to My Vault: x

Bad news for DSGi

In its Christmas and New Year trading statement, supermarket giant Tesco has revealed that its like-for-like UK sales, excluding petrol, were up 3.1 per cent for the six weeks to January 2008 compared to the same period last year. This is lower than the 4 per cent expected by analysts and the 3.7 per cent managed by rival Sainsburys.

However, it reported that its online businesses – tesco.com and Tesco Direct – increased their sales by 24 per cent to over £190 million. Tesco claims that sales of MP3 players, digital cameras and laptops were particularly strong.

These figures contrast favourably with those of DSGi, owner of PC World and Currys, whose UK electrical sales showed no growth while computing sales dropped by 10 per cent. There was some silver lining in 31 per cent growth in its ecommerce division, comprised of Dixons.co.uk and FotoVista, but on the whole things look ominous for the one-time king of UK computer mass merchandising and for the high street on the whole.

On the release of the DSGi figures Sir John Collins, DSGi group chairman, commented: “Overall trading for this important period, in which over half our annual profits are usually generated, has been disappointing, particularly in the UK, Italy and Spain. This weaker trading, together with a more cautious outlook for the balance of the year, means that we now expect full year profits before tax to be some £40 - £50million lower than current expectations.”



HEXUS Forums :: 1 Comment

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
Do you ever find it strange that the media markets smaller growth as catastrophic loss? Even if they make piles of money (and more than last year) it's seen as the end of the retail market as we know it.