Dixons still fighting for UK sales
Electricals giant finding home market tough going
November 18 2003
Dixons’ UK like-for-like sales have been flat across the past six months, confirming that the UK’s biggest electricals retailer has been hit by increased competition on the high street.
In a trading statement, Dixons announced that total group retail sales for the 28 weeks to November 15 were up 20 per cent year-on-year, with the figures including the contribution of last year’s Italian acquisition UniEuro, for the first time.
On a like-for-like basis, group sales grew by 1 per cent, and were level in the UK. International like-for-like sales grew by 3 per cent. The flat trend in UK like-for-likes has not changed since Dixons last updated the market in September.
The period saw the opening of the first of Dixons new large format stores, Dixons XL, in the Bullring development in Birmingham.
Dixons has faced increasing competition on the UK high street as supermarket operators such as Tesco and Asda develop sales of high volume electrical products such as TVs and DVDs, with players such as Argos also targeting this market.
Dixons group chief executive, John Clare said: “Performance for the period is in line with management expectations. Given that the group is about to enter its most significant sales period, it is premature to extrapolate trends for the balance of the year.”
The Christmas quarter normally accounts for 40 per cent of Dixons annual sales.
