Dixons Carphone has reported a 21% rise in profits, in part helped by Greeks panic buying big-ticket items such as large-screen TVs as a safe haven for their cash amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country.
The company, which trades as Carphone Warehouse, Currys and PC World in the UK and Ireland, made pretax profits of £381m in the year to the beginning of May, up from £316m the previous year.
The Dixons Carphone group was created last year through the merger of Dixons and the mobile phone firm Carphone Warehouse.
The full-year results exceeded analyst expectations, with the firm’s chief executive, Sebastian James, saying it had made encouraging progress with the integration of the two companies.
Earlier this week, James said that fears of the Greek banking system’s collapse appeared to be encouraging consumer spending in the country, especially on big-ticket items.
Dixons Carphone’s Greek arm, Kotsovolos, returned to profit during the year, although the company remained cautious about the future, according to the results report.
“The business in Greece delivered strong like-for-like revenue growth during the year, with most categories performing well, in particular large-screen TVs,” the report said.
“The strong performance in this market saw the business return to profitability during the year. We do however remain very mindful of the uncertain economic and political situation in the country and the effect this may have on our business. The team have been very active in planning for every contingency.”
Overall, group revenues were up 2% to £9.936bn, with growth recorded in the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries. Sales of white goods and large-screen TVs helped drive growth in the UK. The company’s business in Spain, where 55 stores were closed during the year, “continues to operate in a tough marketplace”, according to the report.
“This has been a terrific first year for Dixons Carphone. We have seen excellent increases in both sales and profitability and we have made very encouraging progress with the tricky job of integrating these two great companies,” James added.
