Falling sales at Comet, the electrical goods retailer, added to fears that the high street faces a gloomy Christmas.

Kesa Electricals, which owns Comet, yesterday reported an unexpected slowdown in third-quarter revenue growth, weighed down by a 0.2 per cent fall in like-for-like sales at the British chain.

Mothercare, the baby goods specialist, and Halfords, the car parts and bike shop, also voiced unease over conditions for the next five weeks, the most crucial in the retail calender.

Mothercare reported a 13.2 per cent fall in first-half profits, to £10.5 million. It said it was “cautious about the prospects for UK spending”.

Halfords made a brighter showing, with an 8.5 per cent rise in first-half profits, to £52.6 million, but said head-winds include a “credit squeeze and high mortgage rates”. The sales decline at Comet came on the back of poor demand for white goods such as fridges, freezers and washing machines. It said sales of other big-ticket items such as widescreen TVs fared relatively well.

Christian Koefoed-Nielsen, the Pan-mure Gordon analyst, said: “Comments from John Lewis [the rival retailer] that white goods sales had slowed recently have been confirmed today by Kesa, which makes us cautious.”

Jean-Noel Labroue, the Kesa chief executive, said: “The consumer environment for our forthcoming peak trading period is uncertain.”

Shares in Kesa, which also owns the market-leading Darty chain in France, fell as much as 9 per cent in early trade. The stock, which has shed about a third of its value this year, recovered ground to close 6½p lower at 232½p.

In September Kesa put shareholders on notice that the group faced uncertain conditions as consumers felt the pinch from interest rates rises. The retailer also faces competition from a host of online rivals.

A survey yesterday from comScore, the online analysts, suggested that online Christmas shopping is well under way, with traffic to retail sites up 23 per cent this week, compared with the average week in October.

Kesa said that group like-for-like sales were up 3 per cent in the three months to October 31, slower growth than the 3.9 per cent pace recorded in the first half of the year. Like-for-like sales rose by 4.3 per cent at Darty and by 2.7 per cent at BUT, the French furniture and electricals chain.

Investors were also unnerved by suggestions from Kesa that the sale of BUT would not pave the way for a share buyback.

Shares in Mothercare closed 5p higher at 369¾p. Halfords was up 13¼p at 316.¾p.

Times Recommends

• Equitable Life halts £7bn sale on market turmoil
• Potential buyers emerge to save Woolworths staff
• Terrorist attacks close Bombay Stock Exchange