Dixons Retail beats forecasts with sales rise
DIXONS RETAIL has shrugged off the high street gloom and managed to win over cash-strapped shoppers as the owner of Curry’s and PC World reported better-than-expected sales.
The group, which runs 640 stores in the UK and Ireland as well as outlets across Europe, yesterday said improved customer service and better ranges of products had helped boost like-for-like sales by eight per cent in the 16 weeks to 28 April.
Across the year, group like-for-like sales fell three per cent and were down four per cent in the UK and Ireland, but recent trading suggests a lift in consumer confidence.
Dixons said it expects profits for the year to 28 April to be between £65m and £70m and near the top end of expectations.
“Our overall group performance across the year has been slightly better than we anticipated,” said Sebastian James, who recently took over as chief executive after John Browett was poached by Apple.
While it saw a strong end to the year particularly in the UK and Nordics, Dixons said its stores in Southern Europe were impacted by the economic crisis.
Fourth quarter like-for-like sales in the region which includes Turkey, Italy and Greece fell nine per cent compared with northern Europe where sales rose 10 per cent.