Cold weather will be better news for fashion retailers that suffered during the wet summer, but fears mounted that the consumer climate may turn truly arctic.

The Northern Rock crisis could be the catalyst for shoppers to snap their purses shut. That fear was reflected in the general retail sector’s 4 per cent slide on Monday, versus a market decline of 1.7 per cent. Broker Panmure Gordon warned: “We expect that events at Northern Rock will have a major impact upon retail sales, because consumer confidence has taken a huge dent.”

However, corporate life went on as normal. Electricals group Kesa completed its 130 million (£89.5 million) acquisition of Spanish counterpart EMH, which has 62 stores. Kaupthing said the deal would give Kesa a good expansion platform in Europe’s fifth biggest electricals market and the acquisition should be earnings enhancing next year.

The Competition Commission published its issues statement on entertainment group Game’s takeover of Gamestation. The deal’s competitive effect and what would have happened had the merger not taken place are among the areas of investigation. Game said: “The issues statement should not be seen as implying any competition concerns – the Competition Commission has yet to reach any conclusions.”

Sports retailers remained in the spotlight. Seymour Pierce shifted its stance on Blacks Leisure from hold to underperform. The broker was dismissive of the likelihood of a bid from Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley and concerned about the possible sale of Free Spirit.

Panmure Gordon slashed its price target for Sports Direct from 120p to 80p and reduced profit forecasts by 50 per cent. Analyst Philip Dorgan said: “Our new numbers are our best estimates based on 23 years’ experience as a retail analyst of what happens next when the wheels come off at a retailer. An external chairman is urgently required to bring an outsider’s perspective to a difficult situation.”

Shore Capital rated JJB Sports a buy, “after much deliberation”, following last week’s profit warning. The broker said that, trading at little more than net asset value, JJB shares “still have the potential to perform”.

Landsbanki maintained its hold advice on Home Retail following last week’s update, but admitted there are downgrade risks. The broker said: “Trading has held up better than management feared, driving upgrades as a result of good results on costs and margins. However, estimates remain vulnerable to further weakness in revenue growth, particularly given exposure to discretionary end-markets.”

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