Darty year profit slumps

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Darty, Europe's No. 3electrical goods retailer, posted an expected slump in yearprofit, hit by weak economies in the euro zone and a structuralshift to online sales.

The firm, which trails Metro's Media-Saturn andDixons Retail by annual sales, said on Wednesday itmade an underlying pretax profit of 26.4 million euros in theyear to April 30.

That compared with analysts' consensus forecast of 25million euros, reduced after a February profit warning, and wasdown on the 78.7 million euros made in 2011-12.

Darty, which trades from over 450 stores, has responded tothe downturn by exiting loss-making operations in Britain, Italyand Spain and focusing on its core markets of France, Belgiumand the Netherlands as well as reducing costs.

After taking account of discontinued operations and bookingexceptional costs of 115.3 million euros, the firm made a totalloss of 105.3 million euros.

Darty did, however, maintain its full year dividend at 3.5cents, saying it was confident of an improvement in earningsover the medium term.