Dixons sales up 8% in UK despite high-street blues

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 17 Jan 2013 at 09:49

Dixons has withstood the high street carnage to post an 8% jump in sales in the UK and Ireland over the key Christmas period.

The owner of PC World said it posted a "strong performance" in the 12 weeks to 5 January - unlike fellow high-street tech firms HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster, which have all gone into administration this month, hit by competition from online retailers.

Overall, Dixons Retail's sales were up 7%, with UK sales even higher. The company pinned its the success on its "multi-channel" strategy - mixing online and in-store sales, which saw the Dixons.co.uk website closed last year as part of streamlining efforts.

"Our key multi-channel businesses delivered an encouragingly strong result during the Christmas period, particularly in the UK & Ireland and in Northern Europe," said CEO Sebastian James.

He added that "we continue to benefit from capacity exiting these markets" - possibly referencing the closure of rival Comet, with that store's closing down sale not appearing to have hurt Dixons.

While the growth was good news for Dixons, it doesn't mean PC sales are on the rebound, with much of the success due to other products.

"Tablet sales were phenomenal across our markets, which was good to see but which impacted overall headline margins somewhat," James said, noting margins fell 0.5%. "White goods were also strong, particularly in the UK."