Dixons Carphone has posted a jump in revenue over its Christmas trading period while announcing the appointment of Alex Baldock as its new group chief executive.
The electricals and technology retailer said like-for-like revenue across the company went up six per cent in the 10 weeks to January 6, while year-on-year revenue was up four per cent.
Its Greek and Nordic markets were the stars of its Christmas trading update, recording a significant like-for-like revenue increases of 23 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
In its UK & Ireland market, like-for-like revenue was up three per cent over the 10-week period, boosted by an eight per cent rise in mobile phone sales thanks to the launch of the iPhone X.
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However, Dixons Carphone chairman Ian Livingstone conceded that its Boxing Day sales did not match “very strong” Black Friday numbers, but it was still “very confident” it grew market share “in pretty much every category”.
As a result, the retailer narrowed its full-year forecast to a profit before tax of £365 million to £385 million, compared to a previous target of £360 million to £400 million.
Dixons Carphone’s Christmas update comes after the retailer’s interim results in December revealed tumbling profits, nearly halving in the first six-months of its fiscal year.
Today’s update was also simultaneously released with the announcement that it had hired Baldock to replace Sebastian James, who has stepped down as group chief executive to head up Boots.
In October, Baldock announced he was planning to step down as group chief executive of Shop Direct, the UK’s second largest pure-play online retailer, a position which he has held since 2012.
He has been credited for the Shop Direct’s five consecutive years of rising sales and profits, including the underlying pre-tax profits jump of 10.2 per cent to £160.4 million and revenues increase of 14.6 per cent to £1.26 billion in the fiscal year ending July 1.
“Seb and the team have achieved an extraordinary amount, not least reinforcing Dixons Carphone’s position as a leading electrical and mobile retailer in Europe at a time of wrenching change,” Baldock said.
“It’s with great excitement that I look forward to getting to know the people and the customers at Dixons Carphone, and to building on these achievements.”
Livingstone added: “Seb has made an outstanding contribution to both the creation and success of Dixons Carphone.
“It is a much stronger company today than when he became chief executive of Dixons Retail in 2012 with revenue, profit and customer satisfaction all substantially higher.
“The group is now the market leader in eight countries.”
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