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Dixons Carphone: Brexit not a factor as Brits' gadget lust holds strong

Gloom and doom? Consumers still shopping with us, trills CEO

Political uncertainty haven’t put punters off purchasing electronic gadgets, Dixons Carphone CEO reported today.

The group issued a trading update for fiscal ’16 ended 29 April ahead of reporting its full blown annual results showing sales were up nine per cent year-on-year, including a two per cent rise in the UK.

The Brexit vote might have led to a weakening of the British and subsequent decisions by US tech vendors to raise their prices in the UK but Dixons boss Seb James said it had not dampened consumer spending.

“We’re very vigilant because there’s a lot of chatter about how the UK consumer is gloomy or isn’t gloomy,” he said on a conference call, “so far it seems that customers continue to shop in our stores”.

Business in the Nordics and Souther Europe swelled, climbing by a fifth and the Connected World Service division was up 41 per cent.

In Q4, lust of electronic stuff “grew strongly” but the phone business was “impacted” by the delayed, or as Dixons put it, the “deferred” launch of the Samsung S8 that came five weeks later than expected.

“Give our performance despite this headwind, our view is that the UK consumer continues to be active in the market, but we anticipate no let-up in their - very rational - view that price and service are critical factors in deciding where to shop,” said James. ®

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