Dixons Group CEO John Clare is feeling optimistic after the company’s impressive trading performance last year. Profit before tax and exceptional items saw a 35% increase to £135.2m, with adjusted earnings per share growing by 43% to 23.7p. The final dividend of 6.7p, along with the interim payment, increased the total payout by 21%.
Like-for-like sales advanced by 11% and retail profit jumped by 38%, thanks to strong contributions from new PC World Superstores and Currys. Sales of personal computers and related software increased from 16% to 23% of total sales, while white goods sales in Currys increased by 21%.
Currys’ sales topped £1000m for the first time, with over 80% of sales coming from superstores. Dixons stores also saw a 9% increase in turnover, with strong sales in traditional areas like camcorders and computer games consoles.
PC World was a standout performer, with sales soaring by 110% and like-for-like sales up by an impressive 30%. Despite not expecting such rapid growth to continue, Mr. Clare anticipates a substantial increase this year for the chain.
Overall, gross margins remained unchanged and the store development program continued to expand. The City responded positively to the results, with Dixons’ shares surging to 530p and yielding 2.1%.
In terms of numbers, the annual turnover for 1996 was £1919.7m compared to £1646.9m in 1995. Pre-tax profit also saw an increase from £101.5m to £100.3m, while earnings per share rose from 16.6p to 23.7p. Dividends also saw a bump from 7.25p to 8.75p.