Dixons Carphone raises profit guidance after strong Christmas

Dixons Carphone, the electrical goods and mobile phone retailer, raised its guidance for 2014-15 profit after a strong Christmas, it said on Wednesday.

The firm said it now expected a pretax profit of £355-375 million (€465-€491 million) versus previous guidance of £354 million.

The group, formed by last year's merger between Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse, said sales at stores open over a year were up 7 per cent in the nine weeks to January 3, while gross margins were stable.

Like-for-like sales were up 8 per cent in its main UK and Ireland division, ahead of analysts’ average forecast of a rise of 5 per cent.

Same store sales were up 6 per cent in the northern Europe division, versus expectations of a 3 per cent rise, but were down 4 per cent in the southern Europe division.

The group trades as Carphone Warehouse, Currys and PC World in the UK and Ireland, Elkjop and El Gigantti in Nordic countries and Kotsovolos in Greece.

Shares in Dixons Carphone, up 21 per cent over the last three months, closed Tuesday at 442.2 pence, valuing the business at £5.1 billion.

Reuters