Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 3538G

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC

28 June 2012

 



RNS Announcement

Thursday 28 June 2012

For Immediate Release

Carphone Warehouse Group plc ("Company")

Publication of Annual Report & Accounts 2012

The following documents have today been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders:

·     Annual Report and Accounts 2012

·     Notice of 2012 Annual General Meeting

·     Form of Proxy for the 2012 Annual General Meeting

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.1 a copy of each of these documents has been uploaded to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for viewing shortly at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do. 

These documents are also available to view and download from the Company's website at www.cpwplc.com/agm2012.

Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 and Notice of 2012 Annual General Meeting may also be obtained from:

The Company Secretary's Office

1 Portal Way

London

W3 6RS

United Kingdom

Compliance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rule 6.3.5 ('DTR 6.3.5') - Extracts from the Annual Report and Accounts 2012

The information below, which is extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts 2012, is included solely for the purpose of complying with DTR 6.3.5. It should be read in conjunction with the Company's Preliminary results announcement for the 12 months to 31 March 2012 issued on 14 June 2012 (available at www.cpwplc.com). Together these constitute the material required by DTR 6.3.5 to be communicated to the media in unedited full text through a Regulatory Information Service. This material is not a substitute for reading the full Annual Report and Accounts 2012. All page numbers and cross-references in the extracted information below refer to page numbers in the Annual Report and Accounts 2012.

For further information please contact:

Tim Morris       [phone]

Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors' responsibility statement below has been prepared in conjunction with the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 whereas this dissemination document contains extracts from the Annual Report and Accounts 2012 to comply with DTR 6.3.5.

Charles Dunstone: Chairman

Roger Taylor: Chief Executive Officer

Nigel Langstaff: Chief Financial Officer

John Gildersleeve: Non-Executive Deputy Chairman

Baroness Morgan of Huyton: Non-Executive Director

John Allwood: Non-Executive Director

We confirm to the best of our knowledge:

1. The financial statements, prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and

2. The management report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

Principle risks and uncertainties

In common with other organisations, we are affected by a number of risks, not all of which are in our control. Some risks, such as UK macroeconomic factors, are likely to affect the performance of UK businesses generally, while others are particular to our operations. This section sets out the material risks to the Group and how we seek to mitigate them in the day to day running of our business.

Risk within the Best Buy Europe business

1. Consumer environment

Risk: CPW Europe's major markets have suffered low or negative economic growth since 2009, and there is uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, particularly in the Eurozone markets in which the business operates. Some of the products and services offered by the business may be viewed as discretionary, and may therefore be particularly affected by consumer confidence.

Mitigation: The business continues to focus on its structure and on strong

cost control to try to ensure that it is well-positioned to deal with an uncertain environment.

2. Dependence on key suppliers and customers

Risk: CPW Europe's principal revenue streams are from mobile network operators, and any change in their strategy could affect the revenues and profits of the business. Changes in network ARPU could also have an adverse effect on the revenues and profits of the business.

The business is also dependent on relationships with key suppliers to source products on which availability may be limited.

Mitigation: The business has moved towards commercial arrangements that provide a closer alignment of interests with the network operators, whereby the risks and rewards of customer ownership are shared, and has focused on the high value postpay and smartphone segments to help to drive economic value for the networks.

The business seeks to increase and leverage the scale of its operations to support global strategic relationships.

3. Competition

Risk: CPW Europe operates in markets that are highly competitive, in which the behaviour of competitors may damage revenues and margins.

In some markets CPW Europe may not have the scale required to compete effectively against increased competition.

Mitigation: The business has sought to differentiate itself through innovative propositions, high quality customer service, and a good supply of scarce products. The business is working to build partnerships with other retailers in certain territories in order to achieve additional scale.

4. Regulation

Risk: CPW Europe is subject to regulation in a number of areas, including insurance operations, information security and customer management.

Mitigation: The business has internal committees and control structures to manage these requirements, to ensure appropriate compliance, and to react swiftly should issues arise.

5. Operations

Risk: CPW Europe's operations are dependent on internal and external IT systems which could fail or be unable to keep pace with the needs of the business.

Mitigation: A significant investment has been made over recent years in the IT infrastructure of the business, supported by testing processes and ongoing business continuity planning.

6. Foreign exchange

Risk: A material part of CPW Europe's earnings are denominated in Euros, giving rise to exposure to foreign currency fluctuations.

Mitigation: The business may hedge a proportion of such earnings, to provide certainty of their value.

Risk within the Virgin Mobile France business

1. Consumer environment

Risk: Consumer confidence in France remains relatively low, which may affect the level of customer spending and the ability of the business to acquire new customers.

Mitigation: The business is focused on improving the quality of its proposition through a wider product and service offering, increased distribution channels and ongoing brand development.

2. Dependence on key suppliers and customers

Risk: The business is reliant on third parties for the provision of its network infrastructure.

Mitigation: Virgin Mobile France has a strong relationship with its key suppliers, and its increasing scale helps to improve its commercial position. The business has developed a Full MVNO infrastructure to reduce dependency and improve flexibility over time.

3. Competition

Risk: The entry of a new MNO has substantially increased competition in the market. This may adversely affect the business' ability to recruit and retain customers and its revenues and margins.

Mitigation: The business continues to invest in the quality of its proposition, brand and distribution channels to try to improve its scale and competitive position.

4. Operations

Risk: The business is reliant on internal and external IT systems which could fail or be unable to keep pace with the needs of the business.

The launch of the Full MVNO infrastructure and quad‑play proposition place further reliance on these IT systems.

Mitigation: A significant investment has been made over recent years in the IT infrastructure of the business, supported by evolving business continuity plans.

Other risks within the Group

Risk: The Group does not exercise control over Best Buy Europe or Virgin Mobile France and therefore material decisions can only be made with the consent of the relevant joint venture partner. Inability to reach consensus on such decisions could have an adverse effect on the growth, business and financial results of these operations.

Mitigation: Such risks are mitigated through agreed strategies, defined and documented processes and regular communication.

 

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