(Alliance News) - Dixons Carphone PLC on Wednesday said its electricals sales jumped more than 10% over the festive period, helped by online growth, as locked down consumers splashed the cash for gaming, television and food preparation products.
Also on Wednesday, the FTSE 250 electricals retailer named Bruce Marsh as its chief financial officer, with effect July 12. Marsh is currently Tesco PLC's UK & Ireland finance director.
In the 10 weeks to January 9, Dixons said like-for-like revenue in its electricals arm rose 11% year-on-year.
The company posted growth almost across the board, with an 8% like-for-like climb in the UK & Ireland, a 19% rise in the Nordics region, though a 13% fall in Greece. Greece was hurt by a national lockdown, Dixons added.
The best growth was seen in "large screen TVs, smart tech, food preparation, health & beauty and all areas of computing & gaming," Dixons said.
In the UK & Ireland alone, digital sales more than doubled, helping to lift online market share by six percentage points.
"We're winning online, where we're the biggest and fastest-growing specialist technology retailer in all our markets. And even where stores have been closed, our work to bring the best of digital and physical shopping to every customer has borne fruit in such innovations as our 1-hour drive-thru Order & Collect and ShopLive," Chief Executive Alex Baldock said.
"The outlook remains uncertain, and we're still far from our full potential. But this strong performance makes us more confident than ever that we're on the right path to create a world class business for colleagues, customers, shareholders and society."
In its UK & Ireland Mobile unit, total revenue fell 40% annually during the period, amid store closures in the Carphone Warehouse unit. In March 2020, the company said it would close all of its UK standalone Carphone Warehouse high street stores.
A restructuring of the mobile unit is "on track", Dixons said, eyeing a 2021 launch of a new mobile offer.
Looking ahead, the company expects annual profit to be in line with market expectations.
On its CFO change, Dixons said incumbent Jonny Mason will remain in the role until the end of the company's financial year, to "ensure a seamless and orderly transition". A departure date will be given in due course, it added.
Before his stint at Tesco, incoming Marsh was formerly a strategy director at Kingfisher PLC and also held senior finance roles at Dixons Carphone predecessor Dixons Retail PLC.
"I am delighted to welcome Bruce back home to Dixons Carphone. He brings a strong track record over many years in retail, and in the successful delivery of large complex business transformations in rapidly changing environments," Baldock added.
Dixons shares were 2.5% lower at 120.30 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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