US electricals giant Best Buy, which plans to make a high-profile debut in the UK next year in partnership with Carphone Warehouse, has issued a profit warning.

Best buy chief executive Brad Anderson said the trading environment had been turned upside down as the credit crunch took its toll.

In the four months to February next year, the Best Buy fears like-for-likes will slide by between 5 and 15 per cent.

Anderson said: “Since mid-September, rapid seismic changes in consumer behaviour have created the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen. Best Buy simply can’t adjust fast enough to maintain our earnings momentum for this year.”

But he insisted: “We firmly believe that our strategy of customer-centricity is of great value in driving our performance versus the industry, and that’s the strategy we plan to pursue to strengthen our position.”

The strengthened dollar will drag down sales and profits at the retailer’s international business and Best Buy expects full-year revenues in the year to February 2009 to come in at between US$45.5 billion and US$43.7 billion, representing like-for-like falls of between 1 per cent and 8 per cent.

Best Buy’s warning came just two days after US rival Circuit City sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Topics