Weather and economic gloom hit Home Retail Group

Home Retail Group said its DIY chain Homebase had continued to be hit hard by bad weather and a reluctance on the part of consumers to buy big ticket items.

In the three months to September sales at Homebase dropped 3.9%, with revenues dropping to £366m.

This meant that across the first half of the year sales were down by 6.2% to £787m, Home Retail said in the trading update.

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The firm said the fall was "driven by big ticket sales which were down in a market that continues to be challenging, and seasonal products which have continued to be impacted by the poor weather conditions"

Sales for the remaining categories were broadly flat, it said.

It was a slightly more upbeat story at the company's catalogue retailer Argos, with sales across the first half up 0.6% to £1.69bn.

In the second quarter sales grew by 1% to £867m, with like-for-like sales up 1.4%

Net closed space reduced sales by 0.4% after the firm closed seven stores, reducing the store portfolio to 739.

Consumer electronics continued to deliver an improved sales performance, the company said.

This was driven by strong growth in tablets and e-readers, which together with further good growth in white goods offset the market driven sales declines in the video gaming and audio categories and the weaker trading in seasonal products.

Sales via its online Check & Reserve service grew 24% and represented 30% of total Argos sales.

Total internet sales grew 16% and now make up 42% of total Argos sales.