Carphone Warehouse like-for-like sales up 2.3% in fourth quarter
Carphone Warehouse has reiterated its full-year earnings guidance after like-for-like revenues increased by 2.3% in its fourth quarter.
The group said the momentum seen during the Christmas quarter had been maintained, despite strong comparatives. Although overall connections fell by 10.1% due to continued weakness in the prepay market, the group’s focus on higher-value postpay connections led to further UK market share gains in the category.
In the Netherlands, Carphone Warehouse continued the roll-out of its store-within-a-store format in partnership with Media-Markt Saturn. It is also continuing its discussions with Metro Group in Germany where it plans to open stores in the coming months.
The group has reiterated its full-year guidance for headline earnings per share of 17-20 pence, up from 12.3 pence in the 2012-13 financial year. In addition, it has narrowed its headline pro forma EBIT range to £145 million-£155 million from the previous £140 million-£160 million.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Andrew Harrison, Carphone Warehouse chief executive, said: “The mobile market continues to see a fall in prepay connections; but this has been compensated by an increase in 4G penetration, with higher levels of data take-up at a pricing premium, and consequential growth in customer ARPU (average revenue per user).
“Our executional focus remains strong, with our tablet-based sales tool, ‘Pin Point’, continuing to drive customer satisfaction and conversion, to the benefit of customers, network operators and ourselves.”
Harrison added that the group was making good progress in its partnership and Connected World Services strategy and has now opened 31 Samsung stores in seven countries, with around 30 further stores to be opened in the first phase.
