Dixons Carphone share price rises as group flags better-than-expected profits

Shares in Dixons Carphone (LON:DC) have been in demand in early morning trade since the blue-chip group forecast that its full-year profit before tax would come in slightly ahead of an earlier guidance.

The company, which was formed though the merger of the electricals chain Dixons and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, benefitted from a rise in quarterly like-for-like revenue in its UK & Ireland market.

As of 08:43 BST, Dixons Carphone’s share price had gained 0.75 percent to 482.90p, having surged more than one percent at the opening bell. The shares are outperforming the broader market with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having slipped marginally into negative territory.

The shares have soared some 50 percent over the past year.

Dixons Carphone announced in a trading update this morning that its group proforma headline profit before tax (PBT) was expected to come in slightly above the top end of an earlier guidance of between £355 million and £375 million.

The company posted an improvement in its fourth-quarter performance, revealing a nine-percent rise in like-for-like revenue on account of a strong performance in the group’s UK & Ireland business where like-for-like revenue soared 13 percent. Dixons Carphone said that its full-year revenue had climbed six percent.

“Nearly a year into our merger, I am very pleased to be posting such a strong first full year trading statement for our combined Dixons Carphone Group,” Sebastian James, the merged company’s chief executive said in today’s statement, adding that there was still ‘much to do’.

“It is a truism that the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining, and we will pursue continued investment in the business this year to do just that,” he pointed out.

As of 09:16 BST, Wednesday, 03 June, Dixons Carphone PLC share price is 479.40p.