Argos owner Home Retail Group suffers weak TV sales

Argos owner Home Retail Group has reported a bigger-than-expected drop in sales after seeing weaker demand for video games and televisions.

Like-for-like sales at Argos fell 8.1% in the three months to 29 May, compared with the same period a year ago.

Home Retail Group also said that Homebase, its DIY store chain, saw sales dip 1.4%.

Shares in Home Retail Group were down 3.9% at 228.7p by mid-morning following the announcement.

"Economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend," said Home Retail Group chief executive Terry Duddy.

"The comparable period last year also contained some strong sales growth and share gains in certain product categories, particularly in consumer electronics at Argos.

"For Homebase, this quarter represented a good outcome to its peak trading period."