TV sales slump hits Argos

Waning demand in Britain for TVs and computers drove a second straight quarterly sales decline at Home Retail’s Argos, but the chain said it was still winning market share and forecast an improved performance in its second half.

Home Retail, which also runs do-it-yourself chain Homebase, is transforming its larger, more profitable Argos arm from a catalogue-based retailer into a digital-oriented business, targeting higher sales from mobiles and tablet PCs and making collections faster and easier.

Sales at Argos stores open for over a year fell almost 4% in the 13 weeks to May 30, against analysts’ average forecast of down 3.7% and a 5% fall in the final eight weeks of its 2014-15 year.