Retailer Best Buy ended its year with a 3% drop in its fourth-quarter earnings. The company earned US$737 million in the last three months of the fiscal year. Best Buy said its second-half growth will come from a combination of an improving economy, and internal actions such as expanding its Best Buy Mobile phone sales from 181 stores now to the majority of its more than 800 U.S. stores over the next 18 months.

The retailer expects growth in the television business to slow down in the year ahead. Comparable-store sales of consumer electronics, which include TVs, fell 4.6% for the quarter. For the quarter that ended March 1, sales fell 0.9% at U.S. stores open at least 14 months. Revenue rose 4% to $13.42 billion from $12.9 billion a year ago. For fiscal 2009, the company expects a profit of $3.25 to $3.40 per share on revenue of $43 billion to $44 billion.