Dixons Carphone lifts profit outlook after rise in sales

Electrical goods and gadgets retailer Dixons Carphone has shrugged off fears of a high street slowdown after raising its full-year profit guidance.

Dixons Carphone said customers were 'ready to spend'. Picture: Contributed

The chain said it expects headline pre-tax profit to come in at between £445 million and £450m, about 17 per cent more than last year.

It came as Dixons Carphone said like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland rose 4 per cent in the fourth quarter ending 30 April, and by 6 per cent for the year as a whole, with chief executive Seb James saying consumers were “ready to spend”.

James added: “There has been much commentary about the state of mind of UK consumers. Our view is that consumers are ready to spend but have, rightly, become more canny, and so need to be tempted with great deals and exciting new products.

“We see this as encouraging; after all, launching new technology well, creating fun events and coming up with great deals for customers in both the digital and physical worlds is our stock-in-trade.”

The outlet, born out of a merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014, said sales in the UK were driven by an increased share of the mobile phone market.

Across the group, which also operates in Scandinavia and southern Europe, like-for-like sales rose 5 per cent.