Demand for iPhone lifts Carphone’s Irish sales
Demand for the new iPhone helped boost electrical goods retailer Dixons-Carphone’s sales in Ireland by 12% over the Christmas trading period.
The company — which owns the Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse chains — said the 10-week trading period to January 6 represented a record performance for it, with sales being driven by November’s ‘Black Friday’ retail promotion; Christmas trading and the January sales.
‘Black Friday’ drove a 57% rise in sales, when compared to the same period in 2016, and a 37% rise in online transactions in the space of 24 hours.
Dixons-Carphone also said its post-Christmas sales in Ireland grew 10%, year-on-year; with strong sales in digital cameras, smart fitness, and smart television products.
On a group-wide basis, Dixons-Carphone — battling a fall in profit and set to lose its two top executives — also beat forecasts for Christmas trading, helped by market share gains in electricals and the aforementioned demand for the new iPhone.
The group recorded a 6% rise in underlying revenue for the 10-week period; its fiscal third quarter.
It said it had been helped by strong demand in the Nordics and Greece and better iPhone X availability and gave a more precise range for its full-year forecast.
It now expects 2017/18 profit before tax in the range of £365m-£385m (€416m-€438m).
That compares with a previous forecast of £360m-£400m (€410m-€456m) given in December and is a big decline from the £501m (€571m) in 2016-17.
Last week, Dixons-Carphone announced that chief executive Seb James is leaving to joint Boots. Finance director Humphrey Singer is due to join Marks and Spencer.
