DSGi bemoans "weak" B2B market

Upbeat pre-trading announcement sullied by admittance that B2B market remains tough

B2B market remain weak, according to DSGi

DSG international (DSGi) lamented “continuing weakness” in the UK business-to-business (B2B) space in its latest interim management statement.

The goliath retailer was upbeat as it revealed group sales for the 12 weeks ended 9 January came in eight per cent ahead of last year on a like for like basis.

But although UK electricals sales were strong – vaulting eight per cent on an annual comparison - DSGi admitted UK computing sales were stunted by a weak business market.

DSGi’s B2B endeavours are carried out through its, PC World Business, MacWarehouse and Equanet brands – the latter of whose recent troubles have been well documented.

However, chief executive John Browett called the group’s overall performance “excellent”.

"Customer response to Christmas and the sale has been even better than we expected with strong demand across all the categories and countries,” he said. “This performance reflects the benefits of the actions we are taking to revitalise the business as part of the Renewal & Transformation plan, with particularly pleasing performances in our Megastores and 2-in1 stores.”