Shares in Kesa Electricals rose by 8.1 per cent today when the owner of the Comet chain reported a rise in Christmas trading on sales of flat-screen televisions, though demand for white goods continued to wane.

Europe’s third-biggest electrical goods retailer reported like-for-like sales up 1.7 per cent between November 1 and January 8, while total sales increased by 14.3 per cent.

Kesa said sales grew on strong demand for new technology, particularly flat-screen TVs and multimedia products, but appetite was still slowing for large white goods such as washing machines and fridges.

The company, which also owns Darty in France, said negotiations to sell its furniture and electricals business BUT for €550 million are likely to be completed in the coming months.

Jean-Noel Labroue, chief executive at Kesa, said: “As predicted, the market conditions for our important peak trading period were difficult, particularly in the UK.

“However, all our businesses delivered revenue growth, with sales led by the continued high demand for flat-screen televisions and laptops, while sales of large white goods remained weak.”

He added: “Consequently, the small negative mix effect on margin as reported for the third quarter continued throughout the period.”

Shares in the group rose by 15p to 188¾p.

Times Recommends

• B&B hit by £18m fraud charge
• Mortgage rescue fund at the ready
• Zoom airline collapses and halts all flights