Argos, the UK retail chain owned by UK retail conglomerate GUS, saw a sharp slowdown in its growth over Christmas.
Like-for-like sales at the 553-store chain for the third quarter, or the 14 weeks to January 3, rose by 3% compared with 7% growth in the previous six months. The figure came below analysts' forecasts.
A slowdown in consumer spending in Britain has made Christmas difficult for many retailers. Argos's strong performance last year also hit comparisons.
Including new stores, total sales were up 10%. GUS said Argos was still outperforming the competition and that gross margin had improved slightly.
