Dixons Carphone Online Electronics Sales Soar Over Holidays

(Bloomberg) -- Dixons Carphone Plc’s online sales surged during Christmas as consumers snapped up Xboxes, TVs and laptops, helping the retailer weather forced store closures during the pandemic better than others.

Dixons, the owner of Currys PCWorld, said its online sales in the U.K. and Ireland more than doubled in the 10 weeks to Jan. 9. The stock rose as much as 3.5%.

Strong e-commerce mean Dixons was less impacted by store lockdowns in November. Although it didn’t offset lost store sales entirely and revenue from phone handsets and contracts fell 40%, the company is on track to hit its full-year profit expectations. WH Smith Plc meanwhile reported a slump in revenue, illustrating the contrasting fortunes of retailers during the pandemic.

Dixons Carphone was created through a merger of electronics retailer Dixons and the Carphone Warehouse mobile chain in 2014. It has operations in Britain, Ireland, the Nordic countries and Greece. Chief Executive Officer Alex Baldock is leading a turnaround that includes lowering costs, improving efficiency and reducing exposure to a difficult mobile-phone market.

He has cut more than 3,000 jobs so far this year as part of the company’s wider restructuring. Bruce Marsh, who has been finance director for the U.K. and Ireland at Tesco Plc, will become chief financial officer, Dixons said Wednesday.

At WH Smith, revenue declined 41% in the 20 weeks to Jan. 16. Although most of the newsagent and bookseller’s stores on U.K. main streets are still open during lockdowns, customer visits have dropped. Its more profitable stores at railways and airports have been badly hit by travel restrictions.

The company said Wednesday it expects a “cash burn” of between 15 million pounds to 20 million pounds a month between January to March during the U.K.’s latest nationwide lockdown. Still, the stock rose as much as 5.5% after the retailer said Christmas sales were better than it expected.

(Updates with WH Smith Plc results in fifth, sixth paragraphs)