DSG reports annual deficit of £140m

Published on Thursday 25 June 2009 10:08

CURRYS and PC World owner DSG International today reported annual losses of £140.4m and warned markets were set to remain tough in the year ahead.

DSG's losses over the year to May 2 were mainly driven by turnaround costs and the lower value of European businesses. The losses were lower than the 184.1m during the previous year.

Pre-tax profits before exceptional items declined by 77 per cent to 50.5m after a nine per cent decline in like-for-like sales during a time of "significant change" for the company. The group has net debt of 477.5m.

DSG has successfully completed a fundraising from shareholders and said it is "well prepared" for the tough conditions it anticipates next year.

John Browett, chief executive, said: "This has been a year of significant change. We have taken wide-ranging actions to re-organise and restructure the business as well as implementing our renewal and transformation plan.

"We are well positioned to emerge from the recession with a compelling offer for customers. We remain confident of our medium term target of achieving a 3-4 per cent return on sales."

The business reports that its costs were reduced by 95m in the 2008/09 financial year. It aims to reduce this by another 200m over the next four years.