LONDON (Alliance News) - Darty PLC Thursday reported a drop in profit in its recently-ended financial year as it booked property and reorganisation charges and it continued with its strategic 'Nouvelle Confiance' plan to eliminate losses in non-core markets and focus on growth opportunities.
The European electrical goods retailer reported a drop in pretax profit in the year ended April 30 to EUR32.9 million from EUR37.4 million the year before, even though revenue grew to EUR3.5 billion from EUR3.4 billion, as it booked property charges and impairments in France as a result of its programme to improve store portfolio performance as well as reorganisation costs.
Darty said it is continuing with its 'Nouvelle Confiance' strategic plan, launched in 2012, to eliminate losses at non-core markets and refocus on core markets, create value from market leadership and efficiency savings, and identify further growth opportunities.
Under this initiative, the company has exited from businesses in the UK, Italy, Spain and Turkey, as well as disposing of its majority shareholding in Datart in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It now remains focused on its core businesses in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, it said.
Darty will pay a final dividend of 2.625 cents and a total dividend for the year of 3.5 cents, flat year-on-year.
"In difficult market conditions we have delivered on our Nouvelle Confiance strategic plan. We have completed the elimination of our non-core businesses, continued to make market share gains and reached our target of EUR50 million cost savings ahead of schedule. We have also identified and started to implement our new growth initiatives," Chairman Alan Parker said in a statement.
"We still have more to do to ensure growth in shareholder value in the medium term but we have a strong platform for the future," Parker said.
"Whilst we have started to see signs of improvement in consumer confidence, the product cycle will continue to have an impact on our markets which are expected to remain challenging. We are focused on building on what we have achieved through Nouvelle Confiance by investing in our customer proposition, reducing the cost base and delivering improved profitability," Chief Executive Régis Schultz added.
Shares in Darty were trading up 3.6% at 71.50 pence Thursday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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