Argos owner suffers profits collapse

Home Retail Group, the owning company of catalogue chain Argos, has reported a shocking set of numbers in its half-year financial report.

Profits for the period collapsed by 71 per cent to 29.4m.

Though the performance of another of its brands, Homebase, was described a robust” Argos itself was said to be under pressure” with like-for-like sales falling 9.1 per cent in the 26 weeks ending August 27th.

Consumer electronics sales dropped by 20 per cent.

Core customers at Argos have continued to be under greater pressure and there were ongoing challenging conditions across several product categories, most notably consumer electronics,” HRG’s chief executive Terry Duddy stated.

As we now enter our busiest trading period market conditions remain both weak and volatile, and in these early weeks of the second half we have not seen the improvement in sales that we had anticipated.

We are well positioned operationally and we will continue to shape the future of shopping for our customers, ensuring we bring unrivalled convenience and value to customers’ every day lives, whether shopping at home or on the move.”

HRG is pressing ahead with the planned launch of the Argos TV shopping channel and its extension into new ranges.