Electrical goods retailer DSG International met lowered forecasts with a 30 per cent drop in annual profit today and said it remained "very cautious" about consumer confidence in many of its markets.
DSG, which owns Currys and PC World in Ireland and Britain and UniEuro in Italy and Elkjop in Nordic countries, said profit before tax and one-off items was £205.3 million (€259 million) in the 53 weeks to May 3rd, hit by weak sales of computers and in its Italian operations.
The firm said in May that underlying profits were likely to come in between £200 million and £210 million, following two profit warnings earlier in the year.
At that point, new Chief Executive John Browett laid out a recovery plan which included halving the final dividend, cutting costs and investing in customer service and the Internet.
But that has not stopped DSG shares from continuing to slide amid concerns that Britain's debt-laden shoppers are cutting back on spending due to rising fuel, food and mortgage costs.
Traders said DSG shares looked set to open down around 2 pence at 43p.
Including restructuring and business impairment charges of £389.2 million, DSG made a loss before tax of £192.8 million. It said that, as at May 3rd, it had £779 million of available funding headroom.
Sales rose 8 per cent to £8.55 billion and were up 1 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
However, same-store sales were down 6 per cent in computing and down 11 per cent in Italy.
"The economic backdrop continues to be difficult and the group remains very cautious about consumer confidence in many of the markets in which it operates," DSG said in a statement.
DSG shares have slumped around three quarters in value over the past year.