Dixons Carphone has returned to profit after strong online performance and an acceleration of its transformation plan.
The parent company of Currys PC World reported statutory profit before tax of £45m for the six months ended 31 October, after a £86m loss for the same period last year.
Electrical sales online grew by 114 per cent to £1.8bn, along with a significant acceleration in the business’ omnichannel transformation. This helped to offset an estimated £155m impact on profit from store restrictions in UK&I during the pandemic.
The group received £103m in furlough support for its colleagues and business rates relief over the period.
Alex Baldock, group chief executive: “We’ve achieved this performance by doing what we said we’d do. We’re winning online, and have triple-digit growth and rapid market share gains to show for it. Still, most customers prefer to buy technology through a mix of online and in-store, and we’ve innovated fast to bring the best of both digital and physical shopping to every customer
“We used the furlough scheme to preserve jobs in the first lockdown, and didn’t use the scheme at all in the second. Meanwhile, leaders have taken salary cuts and waived bonuses, and we suspended the dividend.”
He continued: “The outlook remains uncertain, and we’re still nowhere near our full potential. Much hard work lies ahead. But this year has shown this business’s qualities, especially the grit and skill of our colleagues. Our strategy has been stress-tested as never before, we’ve had one arm tied behind our back versus our competitors, and we’ve responded with stronger performance and an accelerating transformation.”
Share