Argos and Homebase owner reports 11% earnings fall

THE owner of Argos and Homebase has reported an 11% fall in annual profits – and warned of a difficult year for retailers.

Home Retail posted underlying pre-tax profits of £293m for the year to February 27.

But the result is better than originally expected and comes after the group raised forecasts twice since the start of the year as conditions improved.

Home Retail said sales across its Argos catalogue shops and DIY chain Homebase rose by 2% during the year.

Home Retail also announced plans to return more than £150m to shareholders over the next 12 months.