Dixons Store Group International credited the launch of Windows 7 with reducing its losses for the first half of the year - ahead of the all-important Christmas sales beano.

DSGi said sales in the six months ended 17 October 2009 were down one per cent to £3.3bn and like-for-like sales were down four per cent overall, but up one per cent in the last eight weeks.

Computing sales in the UK enjoyed a significant upturn thanks to Windows 7. Like for like sales in the Nordic region were up 11 per cent.

Total sales in the UK and Ireland were down 11 per cent to £1.63bn and it made a loss of £16m, compared to £10.6m last year. The company reckons its store refurb programme is "delivering improvements", however. It now has 11 new style stores, which combine Currys and PC World formats. These have seen a jump in gross profits of 57 per cent.

Chief exec John Browett said: "Our turnaround is on track and customers are responding well to the significant changes we are making. We have seen improving trends in a number of our businesses, particularly in recent weeks. While we are cautious about the outlook for 2010, we are well-positioned as we enter into Peak trading with compelling offers for customers."

The full statement is here. ®