Strong performance for Dixons Carphone in Ireland as UK profits slump

Smart home products, smart TVs help fuel growth in sales

Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire
Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Dixons Carphone's Irish division put in a strong performance for the financial year ended April 29th 2018 as demand for smart home products and better quality devices boosted its market share.

The company said sales growth was fuelled by demand for more technologically advanced products from customers. Smart speakers such as Amazon's Echo devices and the recently launched Google Home and Home Mini products have seen increased demand, along with high-end kitchen appliances and premium Smart TVs.

"We continue to enjoy strong growth" said Mark Delaney, managing director, Dixons Carphone Ireland. "We grew faster than our competitors in every market segment whilst our online channel sales grew by 40% in the last year alone. Our stores and online are delivering more choice and better value for our customers daily."

Dixons carphone operates superstores in Ireland that bring the Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World brand under one roof. The company is planning to open a new store in Waterford in September.

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Also on the cards is a new online platform, which is due for launch next month.

In the UK, Dixons Carphone reported a 24 per cent slump in annual profit, as expected, and said it would take time to improve the group’s performance.

The company, which issued a huge profit warning last month, said it made an underlying pretax profit of £382 million for the year to April 28th, down from £500 million in 2016-17.

"Recent events have underlined that we have plenty of work to do, and it will take time," said new chief executive Alex Baldock. – Additional reporting: Reuters

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist