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The news was not entirely unexpected, following two financial warnings earlier in the year from the group.

The company owns Currys and PC World, as well as several other large European chains, and revealed that it had seen a profit of £205 million in the last 12 months - a drop of nearly a third compared to the previous year.

DSG admitted that it was "very cautious" about consumer confidence in the electronics market.

In May chief executive John Browett announced that the company would be halving share dividends and closing nearly 80 of its 177 Currys stores in the UK to cut costs. Falling profits have been blamed in part by a lack of consumer confidence in the economic climate causing a slowdown in luxury spending.

DSG's share price has fallen by nearly three quarters in recent months, and the chief executive, John Browett, admits that the sector is "very tough, and it's going to be a challenging year."