Profits up at DSGi after strong second half

Total sales were up 3% to £8.5bn, with group like for likes up 2% over the full year, but 6% in the second half. The profitability of the UK & Ireland business was up 21% and the Nordic business up 28%.

However UK & Ireland sales were down 5% to £4bn over the year, with like for likes down 3% over the year as a whole. However, second half like for likes were up 3%. The improvement was most marked in the electricals division, largely comprising Currys stores, which were up 6% in the second half, but UK computing sales at PC World and DSGi Business were down 13% in total and 9% like-for-like, driven largely by a decline in sales to small businesses.

The company’s store transformation programme is proving a success, with a gross profit uplift of 20% in the reformatted stores compared to the rest of the chain, and of 50% in the Megastores and combined Currys and PC World stores. 164 stores have been refurbished and the company plans to refurbish around 100 more stores this financial year, most of them by Christmas.

Internet sales totalled £1.4bn, representing 16% of total group sales. The company said its turnaround plans in Italy were ahead of schedule, while its Greek and Spanish businesses were “weathering economic challenges and gaining market share.”

The group plans to rename itself Dixons Retail Group, because the “Dixons name resonates strongly with suppliers, the market and colleagues in a way that DSG International has not been able to.”