Dixons Carphone ups full-year profit forecast after smashing expectation with fourth quarter sales
The figures
Sales at Dixons Carphone were up nine per cent in the fourth quarter to 2 May, higher than the four per cent analysts had predicted.
The mobile and electronics retailer has upped its profit outlook for the year as a result, saying it will be "slightly above" its previous guidance of £355m to £375m.
Net debt is also forecast to be ahead of the £300m expected.
Why it's interesting
The £4bn merger between Dixons Retail, owner of Currys PC World, and high street mobile shop Carphone Warehouse has been a story of success. Its cost saving plans are already ahead of schedule and the chain has been the winner from the fall of rivals such as Phones 4U and Comet.
Wary of the potential to become obsolete in the blink of an eye in the ever changing world of tech and telecoms (and the high street, too), the firm also has ambitions for its own mobile service, particularly in the growing Internet of Things (IoT) space, in a bid to stay one step ahead. Not everyone's convinced – JP Morgan downgraded its outlook at the start of the year, saying it is "not a growth business".
What Dixons Carphone said
"Nearly a year into our merger, I am very pleased to be posting such a strong first full year trading statement for our combined Dixons Carphone Group. Good trading, driven by market share gain and by strong promotional periods – including Easter – coupled with successfully streamlining the Group's international assets, means that we are now guiding PBT to be slightly above the top end of our previously disclosed range for the full year," said group chief executive Sebastian James.
In short
Dixons Carphone's latest outlook puts paid to the idea that there is no room for growth, for now at least.