# Dixons Carphone plc Peak trading was solid and in line with expectations, producing record sales

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/dixons-carphone-plc-peak-trading-was-solid-and-in-line-with-expectations-producing-record-sales/412765056
- Published: 2019-01-22T07:59:42+00:00
- Author: Charlotte Edwards

**Dixons Carphone plc** (LON:DC.), today announced trading Update for the 10 weeks
ended 5 January 2018

· Group like-for-like revenue up 1%

o UK & Ireland electricals like-for-like up 2%

§ Share gains across all categories online and instore, offsetting market decline

o UK & Ireland mobile like-for-like down 7%

§ Continued decline in 24 month postpay market, down 8% in the period

§ Two-year like-for-like flat

o International like-for-like up 5%; Nordics up 3%; Greece up 19%

§ Gaining or holding share in all territories

· Stable gross margins across the Group

· 2018/19 Group headline PBT guidance of around £300m unchanged

· Good early progress on strategy implementation

  |

Peak 2018/19 revenue

  |

Reported revenue

% change

  |

Local

currency

% change

  |

Like-for-

like  

% change^(1)

  |  
 |

   UK & Ireland electricals

  |

2%

  |

2%

  |

2%

  |  
 |

   UK & Ireland mobile*

  |

(12)%

  |

(12)%

  |

(7)%

  |  
 |

   International

  |

4%

  |

5%

  |

5%

  |  
 |

   Group

  |

flat

  |

flat

  |

1%

  |

                    *Difference between reported and like-for-like sales primarily
due to previously announced store closures

 

> **Alex Baldock, Dixons Carphone, Group Chief Executive, said:**
> “Peak trading was solid and in line with expectations, producing record sales 
> against a tough backdrop. We continued to grow our leading electrical market positions
> in all territories, online and instore. In UK mobile, performance was as expected.
> Overall, our Peak trading was disciplined and well-executed, with stable gross
> margins.
> In UK electricals we grew sales, despite a challenging backdrop and a declining
> market. Sales were strong in all categories, with standout performances in TV (
> where we drove the supersizing trend), Smart Tech and Gaming. As the first category
> to benefit from our plans to bring more excitement to our stores, Gaming was the
> star performer with sales up 60%. Credit and Online contributed strongly, with
> our Reserve & Collect service having a strong Peak as we started to bring stores
> and online closer together. And our increased investment in colleagues produced
> an easier end-to-end customer experience, with improved availability and satisfaction.
> Our International business, which accounted for almost 40% of our sales, also 
> produced an excellent performance, with Sweden, Denmark and Greece particularly
> strong.
> As a result, our full year PBT guidance of around £300m remains unchanged.
> We continue to make good early progress with our long term plans to deliver more
> engaged colleagues, more satisfied customers and a more valuable business for 
> shareholders. It will take time and much hard work to unleash the true potential
> of this business, but we’re on with it. I owe a big thank you to 42,000 capable
> and committed colleagues for all their tremendous hard work to deliver this resilient
> Peak performance while getting our transformation underway.”

**Operational highlights:**

UK electricals

· Record Peak sales across all categories driven by Gaming, Smart Tech, Small Domestic
Appliances and Vision

· Stand out performance from Gaming, up 60% year-on-year

· Overall product availability up on last year

· Market share up 30bps with growth across all categories and channels

· Good Peak on credit with customer base reaching 802,000 versus 711,000 at the 
half year

· Online growth of 8% over the period and YTD 28% of total sales, +2ppt year-on-
year

**UK mobile**

· Mobile like-for-like down 7% as expected, impacted by lower volumes of 24 month
postpay. Two-year like-for-like was flat in Q3 and like-for-like was down 3% YTD

· Market share in traditional 24 month postpay held against market declines of 8%.
Growth in the new longer than 24 month postpay segment continued, an area we do 
not currently serve

· iD Mobile continued its growth with the customer base surpassing 975,000 customers

**International**

· In the Nordics, particularly strong growth in Sweden and Denmark with good growth
in Norway also achieved, more than offsetting a softer market backdrop in Finland

· Record Black Friday and Peak period with particular strong performances in Gaming,
Mobile, Consumer Electronics and Major Domestic Appliances

· Nordics market share up 20bps with growth across all categories and channels

· Greece: excellent performance across all categories with particularly strong growth
in Mobile, Major Domestic Appliances and Large-Screen TVs

· International online growth of 22%

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