Comet reports better than expected Christmas despite sales fall

The group says the festive period beat its Christmas sales forecasts, adding it shows “improving trends in most of its businesses.”

In the 10 weeks to January 8, Kesa, which trades as Comet in the UK, Darty in France and in eight other countries, says sales at stores open over a year fell 0.3% This was much better than predictions for a fall of 4.%. Comet’s like-for-like sales did however fall by 3.9%.

Comet recently appointed Jam, i-level’s social media unit, to handle its social media account. Late last year, it called a review of its UK advertising account.

Last week, its main rival DSG International, owners of Currys and PC World beat forecasts for Christmas sales. In the 12 weeks to 9 January from a year before, it saw same-store sales of electrical goods rise 8%, led by demand for large screen televisions.

Pubs group JD Wetherspoon also reported a decline in second-quarter like-for-like sales, due to the prolonged outbreak of snow across Britain keeping drinkers at home.

The company, which has 744 pubs, said sales at pubs open for more than a year fell by 0.3% in the 12 weeks to January 17, with the last two weeks being affected by the adverse weather conditions. Total sales increased by 5.3%.

For the 10 weeks to January 3, comparable sales were up by 1.2%.