Dixons Carphone like-for-likes surged in the fourth quarter well ahead of expectations and has paved the way for the retailer to invest when “the sun is shining”.

  • Like-for-like sales in UK surged 13% in fourth quarter
  • Dixons Carphone commits to investing in delivery options
  • Pre-tax profit will be ahead of previous guidance

Like-for-likes increased by 9% during the quarter ending May 2, while across the year like-for-likes increased by 6%.

The retailer’s UK & Ireland business outperformed other regions as like-for-likes grew 13% during the fourth quarter. Analysts were predicting only a 5% growth in like-for-likes.

Strong sales growth has helped Dixons Carphone make further market shares across electricals and mobile in the UK & Ireland, Nordics and Greece.

Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James said the group now forecasts profit before tax will be slightly above the top end of previous guidance of £355m to £375m.

James explained this has been “driven by market share gain and by strong promotional periods - including Easter - coupled with successfully streamlining the Group’s international assets”.

James has promised to invest in areas including delivery options, IT investment, extending it warranty programmes, further training of colleagues and Norwegian pricing while it has strong sales momentum.

He said: “It is a truism that the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining, and we will pursue continued investment in the business this year to do just that.”

He added he was “very proud” of the progress made with the integration of the Dixons and Carphone Warehouse businesses and said it “has required not just hard work, but also pragmatism - and a willingness to roll up sleeves and get stuck in”.

By the autumn, Dixons Carphone hopes to have moved its head offices, begun moving its logistics and repair centres, built “integrated management teams” and opened almost 280 new mobile stores.

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