Increase helped by full year revenues in the UK and Ireland surging six per cent
Dixons Carphone saw a five per cent rise in group revenues as a result of “very strong” performance of its mobile phone business in the UK.
Reporting its results for the 16 weeks ending April 30, the retailer said it now expects profit before tax to increase 17 per cent to be between £445m and £450m for the year when it reports its annual results on June 29.
Sales in the UK and Ireland grew six per cent on a like-for-like basis, primarily because of mobile phone market share gain and growth in electrials.
Fourth quarter revenues were up four per cent from a year ago against a “particularly strong sales number in the comparative period”.
Dixons Carphone did not provide a full breakdown of figures.
The retailer said its pricing versus the market is at its most competitive ever, while its customer satisfaction scores are at an all-time high.
There are now 273 Carphone Warehouse stores-within-a-store open within its 3-in-1 formats, which the retailer said continue to perform well.
It added its acquisition of broadband, digital TV and home phone switching service Simplifidigital leaves the business well-positioned to benefit from growth in the multi-play market.
Strong mobile growth
Dixons Carphone Group chief executive Seb James (pictured right) said: “We have continued to see good like-for-like growth with a very strong performance in our mobile phone business in the UK. I am also pleased that growth has been seen in pretty much all of our businesses across the Group.
“As a result we are confident in narrowing our profit range upwards, with PBT now expected to be between £445m and £450m for the year, an increase of approximately 17 per cent over last year.
“There has been much commentary about the state of mind of UK consumers. Our view is that consumers are ready to spend but have – rightly – become more canny, and so need to be tempted with great deals and exciting new products. We see this as encouraging; after all, launching new technology well, creating fun events and coming up with great deals for customers in both the digital and physical worlds is our stock-in-trade.”
