The trading woes at Woolworths deepened today after the retail chain reported a sharp deterioration in sales and margins during June and July.

High street chain Woolworths today said it had been encouraged by an improved performance at its retail division.

UK Retailer Woolworths offered some encouragement on trading today after the wet weather helped boost sales of its indoor products, such as DVDs.

British retail chain Woolworths has boosted hopes of a long-awaited revival in its retail business after it said it had made a "solid start" to the year.

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

Losses at the UK's struggling Woolworths widened today after sales tumbled as it faced continued pressure from supermarkets, specialist shops and the internet.

Woolworths is to begin supplying Sainsbury’s with entertainment products after a £20m (€29.6m) acquisition offset the loss of a wholesale contract with Tesco.

UK retailer Woolworths today said trading at its high street stores continued to be difficult and warned England’s participation in the World Cup would reduce the number of customers in the short term.

British retailer Woolworths revealed today that its wholesale distribution arm had lost a contract to supply Tesco with DVDs, music and games products.

The London market retreated below the 5400 threshold today as telecoms stocks and miners were hit by a wave of profit-taking.

News of a pick-up in trading at high street chain Woolworths provided a much-needed boost to a string of top-flight retail stocks today.

Woolworths took a £34m (€49m) hit today after agreeing the sale of its loss-making music and video chain MVC.

Woolworths could announce the sale of its music and video chain as soon as tomorrow, it was reported today.

Toys-to-sweets retailer Woolworths today said tough conditions on the UK high street had continued to take their toll on the business.

Woolworths today warned sales were running more than 4% lower after a weak batch of entertainment releases added to general trading difficulties.

The company circling Woolworths has lined up the former bosses of hardware store Robert Dyas to run the chain if it is successful, it was reported today.

The London market made a strong start to the week today as investors welcomed the completion of the Iraq election and cheered a fall in oil prices.

Fears of a tough Christmas for UK retailers began to be realised today after Woolworths said sales had been “disappointing” over the festive period.

Woolworths said today it was confident about its Christmas performance despite seeing rain dampen sales of garden furniture and clothing this summer.

British retailer Woolworths today said poor weather had failed to dampen trading as it reported a 1% rise in like-for-like sales at its high street stores.

UK high street retailer Woolworths offered further encouragement about its trading revival today after posting a 6.5% hike in first quarter sales.

Woolworths is set to replace Baltimore Technologies in the FTSE 250 index when it floats next week.