Woolies confident of turnaround by Christmas

Woolworths vowed to rescue sales in time for Christmas today after the struggling high street chain plunged deeper into the red.

The one-time retail giant said there was still “all to play for” in the next few months, even though pre-tax losses for the first half of the year widened from £36.2m (€53.9m) to £66.8m (€99.4m).