Dixons Carphone boosted by iPhone X sales

Dixons Carphone (LON:DC) received a boost from iPhone X sales across the Christmas period, in its trading update on Monday.

The electronics retailer reported a 3 percent growth in like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland for the 10 weeks to 6 January, inline with market expectations.

Dixons had been initially expected to report later on in the week on January 23rd, nevertheless the company opted to report a few days in advance, surprising investors and prompting a bounce in shares.

Moreover, group like-for-like sales also surpassed expectations, posting a 6 percent rise as a result of a strong performance in Greece and Scandinavia.

Nevertheless, Dixons warned that profits would be down sharply on last year, with consumers opting to keep their old handsets as opposed to upgrading to more expensive models.

The group anticipates profits of between £365 million and £385 million for the full year, down from £501 million a year previously.

Ultimately, the company performance during the usually lucrative Boxing Day period, failed to match the early promise of Black Friday back in November.

Chief Executive, Seb James, commented: “Looking forward we continue to keep our antennae twitching for any material change in consumer behaviour, but remain relentless in our focus on providing the best value, choice, and service to our consumers,”

Overall, Mr James remained relatively positive about UK performance, noting: “The consumer [business] is OK in the UK. We have seen this year a pattern of winners and losers and I’m very happy that we are in the winners camp.”

He added: “For the remainder of this [financial] year we have an early Easter, a new Samsung phone and the first week or two of our World Cup promotion to look forward to.”

Alongside the reporting, Dixons Carphone also confirmed the departure of Mr James, who is set to join beauty giant, Boots. James is set to be replaced by Mr Alex Baldock from April of this year.

Shares in the company are currently up 2.79 percent as of 10.54AM.

More articles ―