Dixons enjoys New Year fillip

Electrical retailer Dixons said it saw strong sales ahead of Christmas but this was not enough to stop like-for-like sales slumping 5% in the last three months of 2011.

The firm said like-for-like sales in Southern Europe, which includes Greece and Italy, fell 10%, while in the UK and Ireland they fell 7%.

Only Northern Europe, showed any growth, with sales rising 3% in the 12 weeks to 7 January.

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However, it said it had seen a 23% jump in sales in the period from 4th to 14th January.

It added that gross margins across the group were flat year-on-year and stock levels were down 7% compared to the year before.

The company said it had seen strong demand for its technical support service Knowhow, a key plank in its strategy to tempt customers with expertise and therefore differentiate itself from online rivals.

Dixons also said it had seen strong growth in multichannel sales with 19% of group sales generated online.

"Consumer confidence in many of our markets remains fragile and we will maintain a cautious approach to the outlook for the year ahead," said chief executive John Browett.