Comet sales fall but retailer keeps grip on market share
COMET maintained its market share in the first four months of the year despite a fall in sales, its parent company Kesa said yesterday.
The electrical goods company, which saw like-for-like sales fall four per cent, is facing increased competition from Currys – owned by DSG International – while American chain BestBuy has launched a new series of store openings across Britain.
The scale of the sales drop partly reflects tougher comparatives, as Kesa said in a trading update the chain held its share of the market and improved its margin performance. Profits for the year to 30 April across the Kesa group – which includes Darty in France – are expected to be significantly ahead of last year and in line with the average market expectation of £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.”
Like-for-like revenues fell 1.2 per cent across the group, with poor weather conditions hitting figures.