Dixons Carphone (LSE: DG) has reported a 30% rise in pro-forma pre-tax headline profit for the first half in its interim results for the 31 weeks to 1 November, published this morning. The company’s share price is currently up 3.4% in trading so far today.
Overall group like-for-like revenue for the first half is up 5%, with Q2 seeing a 9% rise. The performance of the group’s UK & Ireland division is described as “barnstorming”, with 6% growth in like-for-like sales over the first half, and 11% in Q2 alone.
Northern Europe enjoyed a 5% hike in first-half like-for-like revenue, with Q2’s rising 9%. Performance in the Nordic business is described as “good”, but the company says that conditions for its Netherlands and Germany operations “remain challenging”. Southern Europe saw falls in like-for-like revenue — down 11% over the half and 5% in Q2 — although the Greek business is said to be seeing the benefit of some market recovery.
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Headline basic earnings per share came in at 7.1p, more than double that of the corresponding period in 2013. A dividend of 2.5p per share is proposed, to be paid in January.
Commenting on the results, Group CEO Sebastian James said:
“All in all, then, this has been a very good half year but there is a lot more of the year to go and a crucial Christmas to come, against a backdrop of big changes in how and when customers do their Christmas shopping. Black Friday was an extraordinary – and fun – day but we are all acutely aware that there is no room for complacency. Ahead of this all-important peak period we remain comfortable with market expectations for this year; at the same time we know that we will need to keep our foot on the gas if we are to achieve our ambitious longer-term goals.“
The share price of Dixons Carphone is up 28% since the merged company’s shares started trading on 7 August this year, since when the FTSE 100 has fallen 5.3%.
