• Group pre-tax profits up 10% to £501m in the year to April 29
  • Group like-for-like sales up 4% – 9% on statutory basis to £10.6m
  • UK and Ireland sales up 2% to £6.55bn – 4% on a like-for-like basis
  • Boss Seb James said “change always represents opportunity”

Dixons Carphone has declared record pre-tax profit of more than half a billion as boss Seb James claims the retailer is now “well positioned to flourish”.

The electricals giant’s pre-tax profits advanced 10% to £501m in the year to April 29, while headline EBIT jumped 8% to £517m.

Total statutory profit before tax came in at £386m, accounting for one-off charges of £115m.

Group sales grew 4% on a like-for-like basis, and 9% overall in sterling terms to £10.58bn.

UK and Ireland

In the UK and Ireland, Dixons Carphone’s like-for-likes grew 4% and overall revenue advanced 2% to £6.55bn.

However, the retailer points out that, owing to sales transferred from store closures, the like-for-like figure is closer to 3%.

It pointed to a “more challenging” mobile market this year, due to product safety and supply issues, limited product innovation and delays in product launches.

International

The group’s Nordic business delivered 5% sales growth on a local currency basis, while like-for-likes edged up 1%. Reported revenues increased 20% to £3.16bn, benefiting it said from the weakness of sterling.

In Southern Europe, like-for-likes grew by 6%, with sales on a local currency basis up 4%, driven by strong growth in Greece and, again, the relative strengthening of the Euro against sterling.

‘Positioned to flourish’

Dixons Carphone group chief executive Seb James, who came second in the Retail Week Power List 2017, said: “Over the last few years a great deal of work has been done to make the company stronger, lower risk and more resilient. We are seeing the upside of these efforts now.

“More importantly, the improvement in our cost base, the strong leadership position that we have built, the investment that we have made in our digital business and, above all, the enormous shift in customer satisfaction and price competitiveness that we have driven leave us well positioned to flourish in the years ahead.”

During the period, Dixons Carphone and Tesco unveiled a new joint partnership to open shop-in-shops within some Tesco Extra stores.

Read more: Will Tesco spark with new concession partner Dixons Carphone?

The retailer also ramped-up its services business – KnowHow – and unveiled new-look Carphone Warehouse concept stores.

Dixons Carphone signals future with new format Carphone Warehouse stores

Outlook

The ebullient James was optimistic about the UK’s economic outlook, thundering that “change always represents opportunity”.

He said: “While the UK consumer environment seems to be holding up for us, there will undoubtedly continue to be changes in the way people buy all of the products that we sell from phones to washing machines.

“Change always represents opportunity, and our job is to find the propositions that keep us compelling to our customers forever.

“We are excited about our plans in services and about the myriad of initiatives that will drive long-term relationships with our customers.”

Topics