By Maggie Hartford Household furnishings group Courts, which has stores in Oxford and Banbury, saw its shares fall nine per cent after a disappointing year end for its UK operation.

The retailer, based in Morden, Surrey, said UK sales during its third quarter fell by 1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis, stripping out income from new and refurbished stores.

Chief executive Bruce Cohen said the group had been affected by bad weather, transport disruption and the autumn petrol protests.

But the winter sale, which began on December 26, had seen better trading, with like-for-like sales rising by 6.8 per cent, total sales up 11.6 per cent and gross margins ahead on the same period last year.

Overseas, the group, which has 314 stores in 20 countries, saw strong growth in East Asia in the third quarter, with a 19.8 per cent growth in like-for-like sales.

But this was offset by a poorer performance in the Caribbean, down 0.4 per cent, and in its other overseas markets, down 15.7 per cent.