Dixons is continuing to suffer from the effects of weak consumer spending in the UK and remains "cautious", the high street electricals giant said today.

Publishing figures for the 16 weeks trading to August, the retailer revealed that like-for-like sales in the UK were down 3 per cent, hit hard by a dip in demand for items such as washing machines and fridges.

The bright spot for Dixons came from its expanding overseas operations where it saw sales rise 5 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

Speaking ahead of the company's AGM chief exec John Clare said that the summer was usually a quiet period for the firm and that it was too early to read too much into the trading update.

Faced with what he described as a "relatively challenging period", he pledged to continue to drive sales while keeping a lid on costs.

"We are pleased with the progress of our International operations, whilst we remain cautious about prospects in the UK, where we have experienced the slowdown in consumer expenditure," he said.

By coffee break this morning shares in Dixons were up 2.79p (2 per cent) at 156.75p. ®

Related stories

• DSGi to flog The Link to O2 (21 June 2006)
• DSG could offload The Link - report (19 June 2006)
• Dixons ditches the High Street (5 April 2006)
• DSGi heads north to Finland (9 January 2006)
• PC World notebook ad 'misleading', ASA rules (29 November 2005)
• DSG gets Seasonal blues (23 November 2005)
• DSG speeds up Euro expansion (19 October 2005)
• Dixons plays down The Link sale speculation (8 September 2005)
• Dixons buys Equanet (30 August 2005)
• Dixons says goodbye to 35mm cameras (8 August 2005)
• Dixons confirms Logica deal off (22 July 2005)
• Dixons disses AMD claims (11 July 2005)
• Dixons preps corporate makeover (22 June 2005)
• Weak consumer spending hits Dixons (11 May 2005)
• Dixons embarks on mega Euro expansion (27 April 2005)
• Dixons looks to Russian Eldorado for growth (15 April 2005)