Falling Comet mars Kingfisher revenue

Retail CEO attributes sales dive to UK slowdown in retail growth.

Comet's performance has upset its parent company's figures, after the retailer reported a downturn in like-for-like sales.

Results for the half year ended 1 August revealed Kingfisher's retail sales had climbed 8.9 per cent to £3008.4 million. However, the results for the Comet stores let the side down - operating profits crept up only £100,000 to £2.7 million, while like-for-like sales fell by 0.6 per cent. Sales were up from £336.1 million to £344.5 million.

Sir Geoffrey Mulcahey, chief executive of Kingfisher, neglected to mention Comet in his statement: 'Set against the general retail scene, this is a really encouraging result. All our businesses delivered good performances with our largest - B&Q, Woolworths and Darty - achieving impressive results.'

But he conceded: 'In the UK, higher interest rates have affected consumer confidence and as a result, retail sales growth in general appears to be slowing.'

One casualty seemed to be trial specialist operation IT Works, in Reading, which has failed to launch nationally after nine months with no conclusion to the trial in sight. Industry watchers suggested Kingfisher could have cold feet due to the stumbling state of the UK retail sector.