Darty H1 core profit down, Mistergooddeal weighs

PARIS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Darty Plc, Europe's No.3 electrical goods retailer, on Thursday posted a 38 percent fall in first half operating profit as losses at its online consumer electronics operation Mistergooddeal weighed.

Darty said it remained cautious about the market environment in the short term and focused on cost control.

Darty, which competes with Metro (Other OTC: MTRAF - news) 's Media-Saturn and Dixons Carphone (LSE: DC.L - news) , reported an operating profit of 13.9 million euros for the six months ended Oct 31 against a profit of 22.6 million in the same period a year ago.

Revenue declined 1.2 percent on a like-for-like basis, due to a slower second quarter, amid more challenging market conditions and strong comparatives in the year-ago quarter.

Sales at Darty France, which account for 70 percent of group total revenue, fell 1.7 percent in the first-half.

Like its rivals, Darty has been battling weak consumer spending and competition from online retailers.

London-listed Darty, which has more than 450 stores in Europe, has responded by cutting costs, exiting loss-making operations in Italy and Spain, Turkey and the Czech Republic and focusing on its core markets of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Andrew Callus)