High street electrical good retailer Dixons seems to have bucked the trend on the UK high street this Christmas by reporting trading figures that appear to indicate that business is booming.

Their figures showed that sales were up 2% on last year for the Christmas period, with a particularly strong performance on flat screen television sets and DVD players. Regular Finance Facts readers will recall that Dixons announced pre-Christmas that they were to stop selling Video recorders (VCRs), such was the popularity of the DVD format.

Despite these strong figures, the group suggested that it was still wary about predictions for the forthcoming year. Although a strong performance was reported by Currys and Dixons, there was a mediocre performance from their mobile phone business, The Link. More worryingly, their retail computer outlet, PC World, reported a fall in sales.

Analysts are suggesting that the poor performance at PC World may be indicative of many consumers turning to the internet to order direct from PC manufacturers. Indeed, Dell recently announced that they will only be selling direct to customers, meaning that you'll no longer see Dell PCs for sale in high street shops.

Dixons have suggested that trading will be difficult in 2005, mainly as a result of a loss of consumer confidence. As with other retailers, Dixons appear to believe that rising interest rates and an uncertain housing market will make shoppers reticent to spend too much in the shops.