Dixons ‘cautious’ despite jump in half-year profit

The parent group of Currys and PC World today said its profits had more than doubled during the six months of the year, but sounded a note of caution over the outlook for the rest of the year.

Dixons, which has been selling loss-making businesses across Europe, posted an underlying pre-tax profit of £30.2 million for the six months to the end of October, up from £14m a year earlier, on total sales 7 per cent higher at £3.4 billion.

Chief executive Sebastian James said the retailer had gained from the demise of rival Comet, which fell into administration last November, but those benefits will begin to tail off in the second half.

James added: “We remain cautious about the outlook for consumers in our markets – very strong trading this time last year, together with the fact that we have now annualised Comet’s exit makes the second half more challenging.”

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Dixons has already come a long way since the depths of recent years and today’s update is further confirmation that the company remains on track to deliver a full recovery.”