UK retailer Currys posts strong start to year as World Cup and heatwaves boost sales

Sept 10 (Reuters) - British electronics retailer Currys on Thursday posted group like-for-like sales growth of 7% in the summer period, boosted by a World Cup-led demand and strong sales of cooling products during the recent heatwave.

The numbers set an early tone for new CEO Fredrik Tønnesen, and stand out in a retail sector where households squeezed by sticky inflation and economic fallout from the Iran war have reined in discretionary spending.

British retail sales growth slowed to a four-month low in August, figures from the British Retail Consortium trade body showed on Tuesday, after a hot-weather driven surge faded and shoppers cut back on big-ticket purchases in favour of cheaper products.

Britain's biggest consumer electronics seller Currys bucked the trend as it posted a 6% increase in like-for-like sales in its main UK & Ireland business in the 17 weeks to August 29 and gained market share against an overall flat UK market.

Currys Nordics division, which was led by Tønnesen before he took over the CEO role in August, recorded 9% sales growth over the summer. The region now accounts for about 40% of group revenue.

"We think this is a very encouraging start to fiscal year 2027," RBC Capital Markets analyst Richard Chamberlain said.

Shares of the London-based company were down marginally in early trade.

Currys said it remained comfortable with a company-compiled consensus of £199 million ($269 million) in annual adjusted pretax profit. Panmure Liberum analysts called the outlook prudent.

($1 = 0.7377 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Christopher Cushing)