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.
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%.
