Comet reveals 4per cent drop

Thierry Falque-Pierrotin, Kesa's chief executive, also revealed that profit margins at the UK stores had fallen by half a per cent as a higher proportion of cheaper goods such as iPods and laptops were sold.

He denied that Comet was being hit by competition from supermarkets and said that the drop was merely a function of having a bumper Christmas the year before. "Comet did report a strong outperformance of the market for last Christmas," he said. "It's difficult to do it twice, that's why the market expected us to see a decline in sales figures. If you look at it on a two-year view, Comet is maintaining market share."
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Kesa's chain of Darty electrical stores in France saw a better performance with like-for-like sales growing 3.6 per cent defying expectations of a fall of 1.5 per cent.

Mr Falque-Pierrotin said the recovery in France was helped by a "mild economic recovery" in the country, although margins in France had fallen slightly also.

Sales of coffee making machines in both France and Britain were being driven by manufacturers such as Nespresso introducing new products with heavy marketing, he said.

A sales drop continued at the group's other smaller established chains around Europe but at a slower rate with like-for-like sales fall reducing to 5.5 per cent.

The company's fledgeling businesses in Italy, Turkey and Spain managed to grow like-for-like sales by a strong 7.8 per cent, helped by a recovery in Spain and Turkey.

He said sales had begun well this year in both France and Britain, though they had been affected by the recent cold snap. He is hoping for a boost this year from the World Cup in South Africa driving people to buy new televisions as well as the switch over to digital broadcasting which is continuing in France and Britain this year.