(Alliance News) - Mobile phone and electrical products retailer Dixons Carphone on Wednesday returned to the dividend list, as it said online sales rescued a year that saw its stores forced to close by lockdown restrictions.
For the financial year that ended May 1, Dixons Carphone swung to a pretax profit of GBP33 million from a GBP140 million pretax loss last year on revenue of GBP10.3 billion, up 1.0% from GBP10.2 billion.
Revenue was buttressed by online sales of GBP4.7 billion. In UK & Ireland Electricals, online sales more than doubled in the recent year. Dixons said its omnichannel strategy combining stores and online is the way forward, with 60% of its UK customers saying they want to shop both ways.
The retailer - which is set to move this year to the single brand of Currys - also restarted the payment of dividends to shareholders and declared a full-year payout of 3.0 pence.
Looking ahead, Dixons Carphone expects an operating profit margin of at least 4.0% by 2024. It also expects positive cashflow from UK & Ireland Mobile unit over 2021 to 2024 to be at least GBP200 million, up from the previously guided GBP125 million to GBP175 million range.
"Technology has become even more central to people's lives. As the market leader, with the winning omnichannel business model, we can make the most of that. The past year has seen us do so, growing a big online business and adding it to our in-store strengths. We're now financially stronger too, allowing us to pay back over GBP200 million to governments and to recommence our dividend," said Chief Executive Officer Alex Baldock.
Dixons Carphone will move all its stores in the UK and Ireland under the company's Currys brand by October.
Dixons shares were up 0.6% early Wednesday. The stock is up 6.8% so far in 2021.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 7,076.66
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 28,879.61
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.1% at 28,791.53
DJIA: closed marginally higher, up 9.02 points at 34,292.29
S&P 500: closed marginally higher, up 1.19 points at 4,291.80
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 0.2% at 14,528.34
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EUR: flat at USD1.1903 (USD1.1908)
GBP: firm at USD1.3850 (USD1.3840)
USD: flat at JPY110.50 (JPY110.48)
Gold: down at USD1,758.37 per ounce (USD1,760.21)
Oil (Brent): soft at USD75.02 a barrel (USD75.11)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
0955 CEST Germany monthly unemployment
1100 CEST EU consumer price index
1100 BST Ireland monthly unemployment
0700 EDT US MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
0815 EDT US ADP national employment report
1000 EDT US pending home sales index
1030 EDT US EIA weekly petroleum status report
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The UK economy shrank in the first quarter, taking a hit from the government's lockdown restrictions, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the three months to March, UK gross domestic product contracted 1.6% quarter-on-quarter, following growth of 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020 from the third. The revised reading was improved slightly from a preliminary estimate of a contraction of 1.5%. On an annual basis, the UK economy shrank by an unrevised 6.1% in the first quarter, in line with market estimates cited by FXStreet.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CITIGROUP RAISES ROYAL DUTCH SHELL TO 'NEUTRAL' (SELL) - PRICE TARGET 1450 (1280) PENCE
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RBC RAISES WORKSPACE GROUP TO 'OUTPERFORM' (SECTOR PERFORM) - PRICE TARGET 1050 (750) PENCE
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BERENBERG CUTS CAIRN ENERGY TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 170 (200) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Miner Rio Tinto declared force majeure on customer contracts at Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa, citing "an escalation in the security situation at the operations". Rio said all mining and smelting operations at Richards Bay have been halted until further notice, while the Zulti South project remains on full suspension following "security and community issues" in 2019. Rio said it it working with the South African Police Service to try to resume operations.
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Lawyers for Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou sought to admit into evidence at her extradition trial documents they say could exonerate her from US fraud and corruption charges. The daughter of the company's founder & chief executive officer, Ren Zhengfei, is accused by US prosecutors of misrepresenting to HSBC bank close links between Huawei and a company that sold telecoms equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. She has denied hiding Huawei's relationship with Skycom, a former subsidiary, from HSBC. "The new evidence shows that...junior employees and senior executives [at HSBC] knew all about the relationship between Huawei and Skycom," Meng's lawyers said in court documents. Therefore, they argued, there was no fraud against HSBC. In April, Huawei said it had reached an agreement with HSBC in a Hong Kong court to secure the documents, after previously failing to get them from a court in Britain, where HSBC Holdings is headquartered.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Drug maker Indivior raised 2021 guidance to reflect increasing business momentum. Indivior said it expects higher annual net revenue in the range of USD705 million to USD740 million, up from the previously guided up to USD625 million, reflecting a stronger Sublocade performance. Group net revenue was USD647 million in 2020, which was down 18% from USD785 million in 2019. Net revenue from Sublocade for 2021 is expected to be in the range of USD210 million to USD230 million, up from USD185 million to USD210 million previously guided, based on stronger demand and a large order from a new criminal justice system customer worth USD7 million. Sublocade is Indivior's lead treatment for opioid addiction.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Stagecoach reported a drop in annual earnings as the bus, coach and tram operator was hurt by Covid-19 restrictions. For the financial year that ended May 1, pretax profit was down sharply to GBP24.7 million from GBP40.6 million the year before as revenue dropped to GBP928.2 million from GBP1.42 billion. Stagecoach said that, due to continuing uncertainties caused by Covid-19, it was not proposing any dividends for the financial year.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is set for its New York debut after raising at least USD4 billion, the Financial Times reported. The listing, under the name Xiaoju Kuaizhi, will be one of the largest foreign initial public offerings since the Alibaba listing in 2014, after Didi priced its shares at the top end of its marketed range, the newspaper noted. Didi sold shares at USD14 a piece, the FT said, citing people briefed on the deal, giving it a market capitalisation of at least USD67 billion. US peer Uber Technologies ended Tuesday's session in New York with a market cap of about USD95 billion.
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Wednesday's Shareholder Meetings
4Basebio UK Societas PLC - AGM
Afentra PLC - AGM
Angle PLC - AGM
ASA International Group PLC - AGM
Asiamet Resources Ltd - AGM
Bacanora Lithium PLC - AGM
Block Energy PLC - AGM
Chesterfield Resources PLC - AGM
Cobra Resources PLC - AGM
Creo Medical Group PLC - AGM
DeepMatter Group PLC - AGM
Eden Research PLC - AGM
FireAngel Safety Technology Group PLC - AGM
Gamesys Group PLC - GM re Premier Entertainment acquire shares
Getech Group PLC - AGM
Good Energy Group PLC - AGM
Gulf Marine Services PLC - AGM
HSS Hire Group PLC - AGM
Hurricane Energy PLC - AGM
Immotion Group PLC - AGM
Ingenta PLC - AGM
Inspired Energy PLC - AGM
Integrated Diagnostics Holdings PLC - AGM
Kefi Gold & Copper PLC - AGM
Kingfisher PLC - AGM
Kropz PLC - AGM
London Security PLC - AGM
Longboat Energy PLC - AGM
Lookers PLC - AGM
Metals Exploration PLC - AGM
Midatech Pharma PLC - AGM
National World PLC - AGM
Pathfinder Minerals PLC - AGM
Petropavlovsk PLC - AGM
Phoenix Global Resources PLC - AGM
Plaza Centers NV - AGM
Provident Financial PLC - AGM
Rockfire Resources PLC - AGM
Savannah Energy PLC - AGM
SpaceandPeople PLC - AGM
Tower Resources PLC - AGM
TP Group PLC - AGM
Victoria Oil & Gas PLC - AGM
W Resources PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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