Dixons Carphone’s Online Sales More Than Double Amid Lockdowns

(Bloomberg) -- Dixons Carphone Plc’s shares surged after the U.K. electronics seller said its e-commerce sales more than doubled in the first half, showing how some retailers are managing to thrive despite Covid-19 lockdowns.

Online demand from consumers buying laptops, Xboxes and other electronic equipment while working from home helped to offset store closures, the owner of Currys PCWorld said. It reported an adjusted pretax profit of 89 million pounds ($120 million) for the period.

The shares rose as much as 14% early Wednesday in London.

Chief Executive Officer Alex Baldock is leading a turnaround that includes lowering costs, improving efficiency and reducing exposure to a difficult mobile-phone market. The company has cut more than 3,000 jobs so far this year.

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.

The company estimated that store closures in the U.K. and Ireland reduced sales in stores by at least 320 million pounds and hit its pretax profit by 155 million pounds. The company will not pay an interim dividend.

Dixons Carphone’s stock has recovered from record lows in March but is still down 16% since the start of the year.

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