DSG International , Europe's number two electricals retailer, said it did not expect a double-dip recession, and predicted a rerating of its shares as it delivers an improved trading performance.

In terms of the economic environment, we're not in the double-dip school, we don't see any evidence of that in the way that consumers are spending, CEO John Browett told reporters on Thursday.

DSG met forecasts for first-quarter trading with sales boosted by robust demand for TVs, ahead of the soccer World Cup, and Apple iPads.

Although it's not a normal market, we're still in recovery, neither is it disaster, he said, highlighting a stream of new products for Christmas, including 3D TVs, LED backlit TVs, Apple's iTouch and motion-sensor gaming devices.

Browett stressed that DSG's recovery was not dependent on economic recovery.

It's dependent on how we get on with the renewal and transformation plan and we're very pleased with the progress on that, he said.

DSG, which runs the Currys and PC World chains in Britain, UniEuro in Italy, Elkjop in Nordic countries, and Kotsovolos in Greece, is two years into a turnaround plan focussed on selling underperforming businesses, cutting costs, revamping stores, opening larger stores, and improving product ranges and customer service.

The programme has been well received by analysts, but DSG's share price has been subdued, hitting a 12-month low of 23.1 pence on Tuesday.

Prior to Thursday's update the stock had lost 10 percent of its value over the last month, underperforming the UK general retailers index <.FTASX5370> by 6 percent.

The stock was up 0.9 percent at 25.64 pence by 10:30 a.m., valuing the business at about 874 million pounds. The FTSE All Share index <.FTAS> was up 0.2 percent.

We know that eventually the share price will correct as we produce the numbers, said Browett.

We've got a very stable group of long term investors who take very big positions in our stock. The reason they've done that is that they know that if we are successful the returns are there.

Kate Calvert, analyst at Seymour Pierce, said DSG was moving beyond a high risk, early stage, recovery story with management's medium-term margin target of 3-4 percent looking increasingly achievable.

Many of Europe's retailers are still struggling with consumers reluctant to spend amid fears that taxes and unemployment will rise as governments cut spending and raise taxes to reduce their deficits.

DSG said sales at stores open over a year rose 3 percent in the 12 weeks to July 24, compared with analysts' forecasts of a rise of 2-4 percent. Gross margins were up 0.1 percent.

Like-for-like sales were up 6 percent in the UK and Ireland, where the firm gained market share, and flat in the Nordics. Large screen TV sales were up 40 percent year-on-year in May.

DSG said its store refit programme was on track with 200 stores now reformatted in Britain.

Aside from the macro outlook, DSG investors are concerned about competition from supermarkets and pure play Internet retailers, and the arrival in Britain of U.S. electricals market leader Best Buy .

Best Buy, through its joint venture with Carphone Warehouse , opened three electrical goods megastores in Britain and said it could build a chain of up to 100 shops to challenge DSG and Comet owner Kesa Electricals .

DSG will next week ask shareholders to approve a name change to Dixons Retail.

(Editing by Sharon Lindores)

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