Dixons Carphone enjoyed a slight upturn in fortunes over the past three months as the World Cup stimulated increased sales of televisions, however there was no sign of a recovery in a challenging mobile market.
Revenues fell two per cent as declining demand for white goods offset the football-driven gains, while consumers continue to opt for SIM-free devices and SIM-Only deals, rather than taking out new contracts with a handset.
These trends are squeezing margins at the UK’s larges mobile retailer and have contributed to declining profits.
Carphone Warehouse
However, CEO Alex Baldock said the most recent figures were in line with expectations that that there would be no adjustment to its forecasted profits of £300 million for the current financial year.
“We’ve maintained or grown our leading market positions, and our full year PBT guidance of around £300m remains unchanged,” he told investors. “We’ve made good progress in setting a clear long-term direction for the business, one that sharpens our focus on the core, and that better joins up both our offer to customers and our business behind the scenes.
“I look forward to giving a fuller update on our plans and progress in December.”
The previous quarter marked the end to a difficult 12 months for Dixons Carphone during which annual profits fell from £500 million to £382 million. There are plans to shut 92 of its 700 Carphone Warehouse stores, while a major cyberattack added insult to injury.
Baldock had made the renegotiation of contracts with EE, O2 and Vodafone a pillar of his strategy to turn the business around, alongside the increased use of data analytics, new technologies and better marketing.
However recent reports suggested the operators were unwilling to entertain the idea of new terms, especially at a time when they are investing significant resources into their own retail operations.