Home Retail, Britain's biggest household goods retailer, said fourth-quarter sales continued to tumble at both its catalogue-based Argos and Homebase do-it-yourself chains as cash-strapped shoppers cut back spending on non-essential goods.

The firm said today it was on track to meet analysts' profit expectations for the year ending February 25th, which average around £99 million (€119 million), down sharply from the £254 million delivered in the previous financial year.

Sales at Argos stores open over a year dropped 8.5 per cent in the eight weeks to February 25th, broadly in line with the third-quarter fall of 8.8 per cent and due largely to plunging sales of consumer electronics goods.

The gross profit margin at the chain was flat.

Like-for-like sales at Homebase slumped 6.5 per cent following a third-quarter decline of 2.6 per cent, while gross margin was up 175 basis points.

Reuters