(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) The marriage of electronic gizmos seller Dixons and mobile phone peddler Carphone Warehouse has got off to a buzzing start.
The pair got hitched in July to form Dixons Carphone () and in the 31 weeks to November the combined group has seen like-for-like (LFL) revenues rise 5%.
In the most recent quarter LFL sales growth has kicked on to 9% despite Southern Europe proving a drag; LFL sales in Southern Europe were off 5% lower in the latest quarter and down 11% over the 31 week period.
Second quarter LFL sales growth was 11% in the UK and Ireland and 9% in Northern Europe.
Sebastian James group chief executive described the showing in the UK & Ireland as a “barnstorming performance”.
The combined group's pro forma headline profit before tax for the 31 week period was up 30% to £70mln from £60mln the year before.
The group notorious in days of yore for being obsessed by selling pointless extended warranties said customer satisfaction continues to show good progress across the business.
The crunching together of two retail giants has necessitated some asset write downs and other charges such that the company actually made a loss before tax on a statutory reporting basis of £20mln which is a slight improvement on the pro forma loss of £27mln for the 26 weeks ended 28 September 2013.
Further integration costs will be incurred during the second half of the year as the integration of the two businesses continues.
“The integration of our business seems to be going better than I dared hope and our integrated stores are trading very well which augurs well for the future” James said.
The CEO hinted that Black Friday – the day in late November when retailers make a concerted effort to whip consumers into a spending frenzy – went well describing it as “an extraordinary – and fun – day” but said there is no room for complacency.
“Ahead of this all-important peak period we remain comfortable with market expectations for this year; at the same time we know that we will need to keep our foot on the gas if we are to achieve our ambitious longer-term goals" James said.
As good as the performance was the market already seems to be wise to the upturn as the shares are the best performers among FTSE 100 shares this year.
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