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U.K. Xmas sales strong
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January 9, 2001: 7:32 a.m. ET
British consumers packed stockings with PlayStation 2, mobile phones
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LONDON (CNNfn) - British retailers rang up strong sales in the run-up to Christmas, with high-tech goods like mobile phones and Sony's PlayStation 2 filling consumers' stockings.
Games retailer Electronics Boutique PLC (EBQ) said Sony's new games console helped its to increase comparable sales by 15 percent in the last five weeks of 2000, while mobile-phone operators added 5.7 million new users in the three months ended Dec. 30, a quarterly record.
The British Retail Consortium said sales by U.K. retailers were up 3.4 percent in December from a year earlier, outpacing the 2.9 percent growth recorded in December 1999, but cautioned against interpreting the figures as a consumer boom. However, mainland European retailers Metro AG in Germany and France-based Carrefour SA also reported strong sales.
"Christmas shopping only really got under way from about Dec. 21, providing a test of nerve for retailers," the BRC said. "A good start to the sales was almost immediately disrupted by snow."
Britain's most famous toy store, Hamleys PLC, said on Monday like-for-like sales rose 10 percent in the five-week Christmas trading period, partly thanks to an upsurge in shopping online.
Hamleys said lively Christmas trading meant like-for-like sales were 4 percent higher in its fiscal first half, with its main store in Regents Street in Central London recording a 13 percent rise.
Transport hitches dent sales
But both Hamleys and Selfridges PLC (SLF), which sells designer brands at its flagship store on Oxford Street, London's premier shopping thoroughfare, said a crisis in Britain's public transport system meant the Christmas season had been weaker than they hoped. The country's rail network is undergoing a major overhaul, resulting in disrupted services, after a spate of accidents in recent years.
Selfridges said sales rose 1 percent in the six weeks to Jan. 6, with the Oxford Street store recording unchanged sales, while sales at its outlet at Trafford Centre in Manchester, northwest England, rose 22 percent in the same period.
"Our sales in Oxford Street have been affected by the disruption to rail services, but the effect has been offset by margin and cost improvements and the performance of Manchester," Chief Executive Vittorio Radice said in a statement.
British pub operator JD Wetherspoon (JDW) celebrated strong trading over Christmas, but wine retailer Majestic (MJW) suffered a millennium hangover.
Wetherspoon, which runs 466 pubs across the country, said comparable sales in the five weeks to Dec. 31 rose 10 percent.
Majestic's same-store sales fell 2.7 percent in the nine weeks to Jan. 1. The company faced an uphill task to match the level of demand triggered by 1999's millennium celebrations, an suffered a predictable decrease in champagne sales.
Selfridges, Wetherspoon up
Shares in Selfridges rose 3.1 percent to 316 pence by mid-session Tuesday, Wetherspoon jumped 6.5 percent to 368.5 pence and Electronics Boutique soared 11.5 percent to 68 pence in midday trade in London, but Majestic dropped 9.5 percent to 211.25 pence.
Dixons Group PLC (DXNS), Britain's biggest electronics retailer, is due to issue a trading statement Wednesday.
In continental Europe, French retailer Carrefour (PCA), the world's second-largest retailer after U.S. giant Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: Research, Estimates), said Monday sales in December rose to  7.9 billion ($7.5 billion), up 18.6 percent on a proforma basis from a year earlier. Company-wide sales for 2000 came to 73.1 billion, an increase of 25 percent.
Germany's Metro (FMEO) said sales in 2000 rose 7.1 percent to 91.8 billion marks ($44.56 billion), lifted by strong growth in its international business.
In Frankfurt, Metro shares were unchanged at 49.80, while Carrefour dipped 4.8 percent to 61.90 after as series of analysts lowered their recommendations on the stock.
--from staff and wire reports 
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