Dixons Carphone says full year pre-tax profit to be at top end of previous guidance
Dixons Carphone saw its group like-for-like sales climb by 5% in its fourth quarter. The group now expects its full year pre-tax profit to be at the upper end of previous guidance.
In the 16 weeks to 30 April, like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland climbed by 4% while sales in the group’s Nordic business rose by 9%. Southern Europe fared less well with flat sales in the period.
Seb James, Dixons Carphone group chief executive, said: “We have continued to see good like-for-like growth with a in very strong performance in our mobile phone business the UK. I am also pleased that growth has been seen in pretty much all of our businesses across the group.”
He added: “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.”
The figures mean that in Dixon Carphone’s full year like-for-like sales grew by 5%. This included a 6% rise in the UK and growth of 4% in both the Nordic and Southern Europe businesses.
Group headline pre-tax profit is now expected to be between £445 million and £450 million, which is in the top half of previous guidance.
James said: “We continue to make good progress in building out our new CWS and Knowhow businesses. We are, if anything, even more excited about the potential for these comparatively new areas of our group and have had some real and tangible wins as well as a strong pipeline and plans for the coming months and years.”
