Boss hopeful of prosperous year ahead
Carphone Warehouse unveiled strong numbers in its third-quarter trading statement today.

The 1,712-store mobile phones to telecoms group revealed a 7.1 per cent like-for-like sales increase for the 13 weeks to December 31. Overall sales were up 18.4 per cent for the period, taking retail revenue to£421.2 million. Like-for-like gross profit increased by 13.1 per cent.

Carphone Warehouse chief executive Charles Dunstone said the mobile phone market has been bullish. 'These figures represent a strong performance across the group, reflecting excellent market conditions, exclusive products and continued focus on investment in service and value for our customers,' he said.

The group's mobile phone service Fresh, which uses the networks of other operators, also performed well. Dunstone said: 'Our fixed-line businesses have delivered revenue growth of more than 40 per cent, and our MVNO [mobile virtual network provider] base has nearly doubled in the past three months, following the relaunch of Fresh.'

Dunstone added that the group anticipates full-year results at the 'top end of current market expectations'.