Revenues at retail and luxury group PPR declined 3.6 per cent to €9.2bn (£7.9bn) in the first half.

At its entertainment fascia Fnac, sales in its home market were down 5 per cent. Fnac’s operations in Belgium, Portugal and Brazil showed solid growth, whereas sales in Spain continued to deteriorate, dropping 11 per cent.

Sales at its home furnishings chain Conforama fell 10.9 per cent to €1.33bn (£1.13bn) in the first half, down 11.3 per cent on a comparable basis.