Chief executive Roger Taylor told Reuters it would have been a rise of two to three per cent if British sales had not been hit by a shift to longer phone contracts.
According to Mr Taylor, the group hopes to confirm a refinancing of its Best Buy Europe joint venture in coming days.
"You're not going to sell 150-pound headsets in this environment as easily as you would in another," the chief executive said in a telephone interview.
"We have to be impacted (by the tough consumer environment), but maybe not as extremely as others."
Meanwhile, new research has suggested that wireless communication device users consider mobile advertising intrusive, new research has suggested.
As many as 79 per cent said that mobile ads are intrusive, while just five per cent said they are a good idea and welcome.
Posted by Andre Dixon
