Profits at the Comet electrical goods chain crashed more than a fifth last year as sales of fridges, freezers and washing machines collapsed.
Owner Kesa, which earlier this month fought off a £1.72bn takeover approach from venture capitalists, said strong sales of MP3 players and flat-screen televisions were not enough to outweigh the poor turnover of ‘white goods’.
However, in comments that could bring some cheer to investors, chief executive Jean-Noel Labroue said: ‘Overall trading since the year-end has improved, but it is too early to predict if this will continue.
‘We anticipate that sales will again be led by digital products, and the World Cup should accelerate sales of flat-screen televisions in the first half of the year.’
However, prices of digital products would continue falling, he added. ‘We believe we face another year of fragile consumer confidence-although we have seen early signs of an improvement in France,’ he said.
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