Currys and PC World report modest increase in sales

The Irish operations of Currys and PC World took a hit last year from costs related to the merger with Carphone Warehouse.

DSG Ireland Limited reported a sharp rise in pretax losses in the 12 months to the end of April last year despite growth of 2.3 per cent in sales to €155.7 million, according to documents just filed with the Companies Office.

Exceptional items relating to the merger amounted to €19.9 million – largely due to the early termination of leases to accommodate new store formats housing all three brands and associated redundancy costs.

This means the company posted a pretax loss of €24.8 million, compared to €4.7 million the previous year. This was despite a €6.2 million gain on currency conversion.

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No dividend

The directors report cites challenging trading conditions in Ireland as well as property rationalisation costs as reasons for the decision not to pay a dividend to shareholders in the year to April 2016.

Like-for-like sales at the white goods and computer sales group edged up just 0.3 per cent in the period, down from 1.5 per cent in the previous 12 months.

The group employed an average of 445 people in the year to end-April 2016 and incurred staff costs of €15.67 million, down slightly on the previous period.

However, director remuneration rose to €260,000 from €243,000.

Despite the significant trading loss, DSG Ireland Ltd forecasts – taking account of support by its parent company – that it has “adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future”.