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"The chief executive of Dixons Retail - the owner of Currys and PC World - has said that it can take advantage of the demise of rival Comet.  Sebastian James said that it was too early to fully understand the impact of the 236-store Comet chain going into administration, but the development would be &amp;quot;helpful from a market share perspective&amp;quot;. After calling in administrators Deloitte this month, Comet has shut down 41 stores and announced plans to close another 125 by the end of the year unless a buyer for the business can be found.  Some 70 Comet stores will continue trading until they have sold all their stock. Should a buyer not be found, Comet would be the biggest casualty on the British high street since Woolworths.  But speaking as Dixons Retail released its first-half fiscal year results, James told analysts that Currys and PC World were well-placed to pick up Comet&amp;#039;s customers.  Dixons Retail saw UK and Ireland like-for-like sales rise 3% in the 24 weeks to October 31, buoyed by a spike in TV sales around the &amp;#039;summer of sport&amp;#039;.   Operating profit increased to \u00A35.6 million, compared with a loss of \u00A36m in the same period in 2011. This was the first time that the company had recorded a first-half profit in five straight years.  Dixons Retail made an underlying pre-tax loss of \u00A322.2m over the period, but that was down from \u00A325.3m in the same period last year. &amp;quot;I am particularly encouraged by our performance in the UK and Ireland and in Northern Europe, and we were particularly busy during the sporting and cultural events during the summer,&amp;quot; said James in a statement.  &amp;quot;While August and September were, as expected, a bit quieter, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook.  &amp;quot;It is increasingly clear in each of our markets that our service-based, multi-channel business model is what customers want. We are outpacing our competitors, and have seen Comet enter administration in the UK and Expert exiting the market in Sweden.&amp;quot; Shares in Dixons Retail fell 3% in early morning trading to 25.3p. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a441703/dixons-retail-boss-comet-demise-will-be-helpful/>