Dixons poor games sales spook the City

Games and consoles didn't deliver the goods this Christmas...

UK electrical retailer Dixons has caused concern in the City by reporting weaker sales of games and consoles over the usually-bumper Christmas period. Dixons warned that its sales over the Christmas period were below expectations, with consoles and computer games performing poorly, and added that it expects to now miss year-end profit expectations. The high street chain, whose performance is generally seen as a solid guide to the performance of the UK retail sector, said that like-for-like sales for the last eight weeks of 2002 were up just one per cent on a year ago, compared to a five per cent rise for the previous six months. The company said in a financial statement to the London stock market: "In November, the latest period for which audited market share data is available, our market share was still growing. Sales in December were below expectations, however, principally accounted for by weaker sales of games consoles, audio products and extended warranties." City investors reacted badly to this news, and shares in Dixons dropped by around 20 per cent in morning trading in London. Dixons did suggest, though, that there could be some recovery in its fortunes in early 2003, revealing that: "The January sale has started well, with strong sales of computers, widescreen televisions and DVD players." Dixons shares closed at 147p yesterday. At the time of writing they were down almost 22 per cent at 115.7p. Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet.co.uk