Dixons Carphone plans improvements to its multichannel operations over the course of the coming year – and says it sees opportunities as a result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
It described the year just gone, in which it has largely completed tasks related to the merger of the former Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse businesses, as a momentous one. During its first year as a combined business it saw its biggest ever trading day on Black Friday.
In the year ahead it plans improvement including the introduction of same-day delivery, a new Carphone Warehouse ecommerce platform, and what it bills as “Europe’s most modern distribution centre” in Sweden. It plans to make all former Dixons stores a three-in-one store, featuring the Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse brands. This, said the retailer, “will reduce the store estate by 134 but will significantly improve the store experience for our customers and colleagues, and we expect the impact on sales to be neutral or better.”
Currys is a Leading retailer in IRUK Top500 research, while PC World and Carphone Warehouse are both Top50 companies.
Dixons Carphone chief executive Seb James said that despite inevitable volatility it also saw opportunities in Brexit.
“The nation has spoken and there has been a vote to exit the EU in due course,” he said. “As you can imagine we have been giving some thought to this. Our view is that, as the strongest player in our market and despite the volatility that is the inevitable consequence of such change, we expect to find opportunities for additional growth and further consolidate our position as the leader in the UK market.”
The update came as Dixons Carphone reported group sales of £9.738bn in the year to April 30, slightly down on the £9.750bn reported in the previous year. Like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of store openings and closures, as well as the acquisition and sales of subsidiary businesses, were 5% up on the same time last year. The company said this reflected strong growth in its UK and Ireland, Nordic and Greek businesses. In the UK, sales of £6.4bn were 1% up on last time, with growth in electricals sales. Pre-tax profits of £447m were 17% up on £381m in the previous year.
