Fri, 16 Sep 2011 | BUSINESS SALE
Kesa Electricals has failed to find a new owner for the embattled Comet, which had been on the market for more than three months.
Sales at electrical retailer Comet tumbled over the summer by 22 per cent, compared to the same period last year. This is an unfair comparison as TV sales were boosted last year by the football World Cup, Thierry Falque-Pierrotin, Kesa’s chief executive said.
Comet’s recent sales figure showed double the rate of decline of that for its competitors - Dixons the owner of PC World and Currys, and Home Retail the firm behind Argos.
It is understood that shareholder Knight Vinke has put pressure on Kesa to address the problem of the poor sales at Comet, and look into a potential sale.
Mr Falque-Pierrotin said, “We have a turnaround plan for Comet. We have started to execute it and we’re benchmarking it against potential alternatives.”
If the firm remains in Kesa’s hands, it could operate from mid-sized showroom stores, with sales taking place through online orders and customers coming into the stores to collect items bought.
It was reported that Kesa said other strategic options for Comet are still being explored as well. Andrew Wade, retail analyst at Numis Securities said, however, “We cannot see a painless way out of the Comet situation”.
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