Comet owner Kesa plunges into the red

KESA Electrical, the owner of Comet, yesterday said it had plunged to a £81.8m full-year loss due to a slump in demand for electrical goods.

The group, which owns a number of European electrical retailers including Darty in Frnace, boasted a pre-tax profit of £128.8m a year ago.

The losses were largely due to a write down of £118.5m in the value of its Spanish business Menaje del Hogars, as well as the price of cost cutting.

Kesa has already cut 300 jobs in the UK during the year.

Kesa said it had taken steps to reduce costs, especially at Comet, where profits fell 76.5 per cent to £10.1m.

Chief executive Thierry Falque-Pierrotin said the group was bracing itself for a further four to five per cent fall in sales across the market during the year. Falque-Pierrotin said: “We are not expecting a recovery in the market anytime soon.”

Earlier this month Kesa said it was in exclusive talks about selling its Swiss operations for SFr20m (£114m).

Thierry yesterday said the group would not be quitting any of its other operations: “We are not under enough financial constraints to lead us to sacrifice growth.” The group has a net cash position of £75m for the year end.