Currys has raised its profit outlook for the year after boss Alex Baldock hailed “strong peak trading” over the crucial Christmas trading period with a 2% rise in UK underlying sales as consumers bought more laptops and mobile phones.

As a result, the electricals giant now expects its full year adjusted pre-tax profit to come in ahead of consensus expectations at around £145m to £155m, up 23% to 31% year-on-year.

Omnichannel revenues grew strongly, with order and collect rising 13% and online-in-store sales jumping 24%.

Additionally, its iD Mobile subscribers soared 30% year on year to 2.1m, with 0.5m subscribers added over the past year.

Currys CEO Alex Baldock said: “We’re pleased by our strong peak trading. We grew in both markets, continuing the trend of Currys’ strengthening performance, and we believe this year’s profits will be ahead of market expectations.

“With our ever-stronger cash generation and much improved balance sheet, the board now expects to pay a dividend at the year-end.”

The results come after Baldock recently insisted he wouldn’t allow the retailer’s growth to be “interrupted” as the electricals giant prepared for its tax bill to rise £32m from April.

The chief executive said the retailer had plans to mitigate some of the “new and unwelcome” costs coming from changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions, National Living Wage increases and inflation-based increases in business rates.

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