Human resources head calls the diy market 'tricky'.
Jane Watkinson, head of hr at Home Retail Group has warned that this year could be difficult for the home enhancement retailer as the group battles to entice shoppers into its stores.

The hr manager said a combination of reduced consumer spending on diy, a lack of home improvement television programmes and the poor weather to-date has made the market 'tricky'.

Speaking to Personnel Today magazine she added that the group was not expecting to make any redundancies, and that it has planned for the year ahead.

Next week (Wednesday April 30, 2008) Home Retail Group (HRG) is expected to confirm a 14 per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profit when it publishes full-year results.

Analysts are forecasting an underlying pre-tax of £430m.

HRG last updated the market on March 13, 2008 when it predicted full-year results in line with market forecasts.

At that time, it said full-year sales at Argos rose 3.8 per cent to £4.3bn while sales at Homebase fell 1.6 per cent to £1.6bn pounds.