Dixons Carphone plc 2017/18 Preliminary Results

RNS Number : 0635S
Dixons Carphone PLC
21 June 2018
 

Dixons Carphone plc

Preliminary results for the 12 months to 28 April 2018*

•  Group like-for-like revenue(3) up 4%, Statutory revenue up 3%, maintained market leading shares

•       UK & Ireland like-for-like revenue up 2%

•       Strong growth in International; Nordics like-for-like revenue up 9%, Greece like-for-like revenue up 11%

•  Group headline PBT(1) of £382 million (2016/17: £500 million):

•       International businesses's EBIT growth of £20m year on year, Nordics up £12m, Greece up £8m

•       Gross margins: Challenges in UK mobile continued given market and current contractual constraints, UK electricals margin impacted in second half largely by category and channel mix

•       Includes £25m credit from acceleration of trade balances reconciliation ahead of new system launch

•       Includes a negative £87m year on year impact from revaluations and insurance contract terms

•       Disposal of honeybee in the period (non-headline item)

•  Group headline basic EPS(1) 26.2p (2016/17: 33.5p), statutory basic EPS 14.4p (2016/17: 25.6p)‌‌

•  Total statutory profit before tax of £289 million (2016/17: £404 million) after non-headline(1) charges of £93 million (2016/17: £96 million)

•  Free cash flows(6) of £172 million (2016/17: £178 million) and net debt(7) reduced by £22 million to £249 million

•  Final dividend of 7.75p proposed, maintaining full year dividend at 11.25p (2016/17: 11.25p)

•  2018/19 Group headline PBT expected to be around £300m

Headline results*(1)

 

Headline revenue(1)

Headline profit / (loss)(1)

 

Note

2017/18

£million

2016/17 - (restated)

£million

Reported rate

% change

Local currency(2)

% change

Like-for-like(3)

% change

2017/18

£million

2016/17 - (restated)

£million

UK & Ireland

(4),(5)

6,645

6,735

(1)%

(2)%

2%

281

417

Nordics

(5)

3,470

3,159

10%

7%

9%

101

89

Greece

(4),(5)

410

348

18%

13%

11%

18

10

Group

 

10,525

10,242

3%

2%

4%

400

516

Net finance costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

(18)

(16)

Profit before tax

 

 

 

 

 

 

382

500

Tax

 

 

 

 

 

 

(79)

(114)

Profit after tax

 

 

 

 

 

 

303

386

Headline basic EPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

26.2p

33.5p

Notes:     

-  In the UK & Ireland, like-for-like revenues in the full year improved by approximately 2% as a net result of sales successfully transferred from closed stores and sales disruptions.

-  *See notes on page 2 for an explanation of the basis of preparation and defined terms

 

Alex Baldock, Group Chief Executive, said:

"It's now a little over three weeks since our last trading statement, and just over two months since I joined. I'm delighted to be at Dixons Carphone, in a business with so many strengths, and with so much more to go for. Recent events have underlined that we have plenty of work to do, and it will take time, but I'm even more confident than the day I took the job in our long-term prospects.

We're number one, maintaining or growing share in each of our markets, with people and scale multichannel capabilities no competitor can rival.

We can make more of these strengths, by bringing clear long-term direction that sharpens our focus on our core, and that better joins up both our offer to customers and our business behind the scenes. There's nothing here that can't be done, and we expect top and bottom-line benefit of doing it.

Our new leadership team is working at pace to set that direction, and we've taken action already to invest more in our colleagues and the customer experience, as well as to improve our performance in the UK.

I look forward to giving a fuller update on our plans and progress in December."

 

Investor and analyst webcast

There will be a conference call with presentation for investors and analysts at 9:00 am today. The presentation slides will be available via webcast (listen only) on our corporate website, www.dixonscarphone.com

Conference call details:

Dial-in details - UK/International: +44(0) 20 3936 2999; passcode: 27 41 71

Seven-day replay - UK/International: +44(0) 20 3936 3001; passcode: 82 33 71

Next announcement

The Group will publish its Q1 trading statement on Thursday 6th September 2018.

For further information

Assad Malic

IR, PR & Corporate Affairs Director

+44 (0)7414 191044

Mark Reynolds

Head of Investor Relations

+44 (0)7979 696 498

Amy Shields

Head of External Communications

+44 (0)7588 201 442

Nick Cosgrove, Helen Smith

Brunswick Group

+44 (0)207 404 5959

Information on Dixons Carphone plc is available at www.dixonscarphone.com

Follow us on Twitter: @dixonscarphone

 

About Dixons Carphone:

Dixons Carphone plc is Europe's leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company, employing over 42,000 people in eight countries.

 

Focused on helping customers navigate the connected world, Dixons Carphone offers a comprehensive range of electrical and mobile products, connectivity and expert after-sales services from Team Knowhow.

 

Dixons Carphone's primary brands include Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse in the UK & Ireland, Elkjøp, Elkjøp Phonehouse, Elgiganten, Elgiganten Phone House, Gigantti in the Nordic countries, Kotsovolos in Greece, and Dixons Travel in a number of UK airports as well as Dublin and Oslo. Our key service brand is Team Knowhow in the UK, Ireland and the Nordics.

 

Business-to-business (B2B) services are provided through Connected World Services, Currys PC World Business and Carphone Warehouse Business.

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable laws, regulations or accounting standards, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Information contained on the Dixons Carphone plc website or the Twitter feed does not form part of this announcement and should not be relied on as such.

 

 

Notes

(1)   Headline results exclude amortisation of acquisition intangibles, Merger integration and transformation costs, businesses to be exited, property rationalisation costs, acquisition-related costs and other one-off, non-recurring items, net interest on defined benefit pension schemes and discontinued operations. Such excluded items are described as 'non-headline'. For further details see notes 3 and 9 to the Group financial statements. Comparatives have been restated following the classification of the iD mobile operations in the Republic of Ireland as businesses to be exited, and classification of the Sprint joint venture, Spanish and honeybee operations as discontinued, and are therefore included in non-headline results. For further details see note 11 to the financial information.

(2)‌‌‌‌   Change in local currency revenue reflects total revenues on a constant currency and period basis.

(3)‌‌‌‌   Like-for-like revenue is defined in the glossary.

(4)‌‌‌‌   During the year, the reportable segments of the Group have been changed and comparatives restated accordingly. Restatements are detailed in note 2 to the Group financial statements.

(5)‌‌‌‌   UK & Ireland comprises operations in the UK and Ireland, the Dixons Travel business and the B2B operations which leverage the specialist skills, operating processes and technology of the Group to provide managed services to third parties looking to develop their own connected world solutions. Nordics comprises operations in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Greece comprises operations in Greece and, for non-headline results, previously disposed operations in the Southern Europe region.

(6)‌‌‌‌   Free Cash Flow comprises cash generated from / (utilised by)‌‌‌‌ continuing operations before special pension contributions, less net finance expense, less income tax paid and net capital expenditure.

(7)   Net debt is defined in the glossary.

See glossary for further definitions of terms.

 

Performance review

The performance review below refers, unless otherwise stated, to headline information for continuing businesses. The basis for the preparation of this information, including restatements due to businesses to be exited, discontinued operations and segmental classification is described above.

 

Group

Group headline revenue increased 3% in Sterling terms to £10,525 million (2016/17: £10,242 million) and 2% on a local currency basis. Like-for-like revenue growth was 4%, reflecting strong performance in Greece and the Nordic region. UK electricals delivered 3% like-for-like growth whilst UK mobile growth remained flat year on year despite a 3% like-for-like decline in the first half.

Headline EBIT was down £116 million to £400 million, as increased headline EBIT in our International businesses was more than offset by lower UK & Ireland headline EBIT which included a negative £87 million year on year impact from a change in receivables revaluations, changes to customer support agreement cost profiles and insurance contracts as indicated earlier in the year.

 

UK & Ireland

Revenue in the UK & Ireland decreased by 1% to £6,645 million (2016/17: £6,735 million), with like-for-like revenue for the year up 2%, benefiting from sales transfers.

Headline EBIT decreased by £136 million to £281 million. £46m of this decrease related to the prior year benefit from changes in the cost profile of services provided under long-term customer support agreements (£24 million year on year) as well as changes in contractual terms for the sale of third party insurance contracts (£22 million) and a further £41million from the negative impact year on year of revaluations of network receivables. Against this, there was a benefit from a finance systems implementation where we accelerated data reconciliation of trade balances ahead of a new financial system launch (£25 million).

In electricals, with a softer computing market, our category mix during the year shifted towards consumer electronics and white goods, and online sales saw another year of double digit growth, ahead of the market. The combination of channel and product mix effects led to a greater adverse gross margin year on year due to the costs of providing home delivery and installation services as well as lower levels of service attachment. In UK mobile, we delivered flat like-for-like sales in a contracting postpay market. However, we have maintained our leadership position. As seen throughout the year, postpay market conditions and our contractual commitments with the networks have meant that gross margins continued to be challenged, this was partly mitigated by a £16m higher year on year contribution to network commissions income linked to RPI on mobile consumer's line rental.

 

Nordics

The Nordic businesses delivered strong performance with 9% like-for-like revenue growth, 7% on a local currency basis and a reported revenue increase of 10% to £3,470 million (2016/17: £3,159 million). Revenue growth was seen across all countries with the Nordic business outgrowing the overall market in consumer electronics, small domestic appliances, computing and, in particular, telecoms. The business also delivered strong online growth of 35% in the year.

Reported headline EBIT growth of 13% to £101 million (2016/17: £89 million) reflects the revenue growth noted above.

In the year we announced the consolidation of our Norwegian brands under the Elkjøp fascia with the removal of the Lefdal brand, we have completed the programme with sales transfers exceeding expectations. We also launched electronic shelf-edge price ticketing in Norway, with benefits better than anticipated and we will roll this out  across the other Nordic countries.

Greece

Greece has continued to deliver strong results with market share gains across all major categories. Like-for-like revenues were up 11%, and revenue on a local currency basis up 13%. Greece headline EBIT was £18 million (2016/17: £10 million), benefiting from the increased revenue noted above and cost efficiencies.

 

Net finance costs

Headline net finance costs were £18 million (2016/17: £16 million). The increase in net financing costs reflects lower finance income, with the prior year benefiting from £2 million income on the loan with the Group's investment in the Unieuro operations which was repaid in the prior year. 

Tax

The headline effective tax rate for the full year is 21% (2016/17: 22%). The rate is higher than the UK statutory rate of 19% mainly due to higher statutory rates in the Nordics and certain non-deductible items mainly in the UK.

 

 

Cash and movement on net debt

Free Cash Flow

 

2017/18

£million

2016/17

(restated)

£million

Headline EBIT

400

516

Depreciation and amortisation

160

140

Working capital

(80)

(95)

Capital expenditure

(173)

(222)

Taxation

(63)

(71)

Interest

(25)

(23)

Other items

-

2

Free cash flow before restructuring items - continuing operations

219

247

Restructuring costs

(47)

(69)

Free Cash Flow

172

178

 

Free Cash Flow was an inflow of £172 million (2016/17: £178 million), a decrease of 3%.

The Group experienced a working capital outflow of £80 million (2016/17: £95 million), largely as a result of increases in stock and debtors in the Nordics to support the strong growth in that market, as well as the finance systems data reconciliation benefit and higher RPI linked network commissions income discussed earlier in this report, both of which increased working capital. Capital expenditure in the period was £173 million (2016/17: £222 million). The year on year decrease reflects the increased spend in the prior year on SWAS stores and the refit of the stores as part of the property rationalisation programme offset by increased spend on new IT platforms in the current year. The higher levels of capital expenditure in prior years has resulted in an increase in depreciation and amortisation in the current year as these assets have a full year of depreciation associated with them.

Taxation paid in the year reduced from £71 million to £63 million, primarily as a result of the lower taxable profit in the year.

The increase in interest paid is primarily as a result of the interest income in the prior year from the loan with Unieuro as described above.

Restructuring costs primarily comprise the cash costs associated with the transformation activities and the property rationalisation programme noted below within non-headline items.

A reconciliation of  cash inflow from operations to free cash flow is presented at note 8c to the financial information.

 

Funding

 

2017/18

£million

2016/17

(restated)

£million

Free Cash Flow

172

178

Dividends

(130)

(115)

Acquisitions and disposals including discontinued operations

24

(43)

Special pension contributions

(46)

(43)

Other items

2

19

Movement in net debt

22

(4)

Opening net debt

(271)

(267)

Closing net debt

(249)

(271)

 

 

At 28 April 2018 the Group had net debt of £249 million, a reduction of £22 million from £271 million in the prior year. Free Cash Flow was an inflow of £172 million (2016/17: £178 million) for the reasons described above.

Dividend cash outflows increased from £115 million in the prior year to £130 million in current year reflecting a year on year increase in FY 2016/17 final dividends approved and paid in the current year and FY 2017/18 interim dividends paid.

Net cash inflows of £24 million from acquisitions and disposals in the current year primarily represents cash received following the sale of the Group's Sprint joint venture and Spanish operations, net of the operating and investing cash flows associated with the now discontinued honeybee operations. Prior year cash outflows relate to investment in the Sprint joint venture, cash flows associated with the honeybee operations, acquisition of Simplifydigital and the FONA stores in Denmark, offset by cash receipts in relation to the Group's previously disposed retail operations in Germany.

The pension contributions reflect the agreed deficit reduction plan following the 2016 triennial valuation. Other items primarily relate to foreign exchange movements on net debt.

The average net debt during the year was £405 million (2016/17: £426 million) with the difference between this and the April 2018 position representing the seasonal funding requirements of the Group, particularly over the peak season.

 

2018/19 Outlook

In 2018/19 we expect our International businesses to reinforce their market leadership positions. As in 2017/18, we are budgeting for a contraction in the UK electricals market  and will use our scale to maintain our market share. We expect some cost increases in UK electricals, notably National Living Wage and IT depreciation, partially offset by gross margin recovery initiatives, including range optimisation, better availability and reduced levels of markdown.

In mobile, we are making progress in our contract discussions with the networks with the aim of improving our business model. In 2018/19 we expect a further decline in the postpay market against which we expect to increase our share of SIMO and SIM free handsets. A lower forecast level of inflation (source: OBR) in 2018/19 versus prior year is expected to drive a c£15m lower year on year contribution from network commissions income linked to RPI on mobile consumer's line rental. Overall, gross margins are expected to be down, partially offset by cost initiatives. We have taken early action here with the planned closure of 92 Carphone Warehouse standalone stores this year. At this stage we are not expecting any material revaluation in our mobile debtor however, as seen in prior periods there can be some variability, both up and down, given market conditions.

In addition to this, we will correct recent underinvestment in both our colleague and customer proposition. In the coming year we expect to make a cost investment of around £30m in these areas across the UK & Ireland, giving our colleagues the right tools and the customer an improved experience. 

Furthermore, we anticipate an accounting adjustment from the first time adoption of IFRS 15 of around minus £8m relating principally to the timing of revenue recognised for customer support agreements (CSAs).

Taking these factors into account we expect Group headline PBT for 2018/19 to be around £300m and we currently anticipate a similar level of free cashflow conversion versus the prior year.

 

Statutory results

Income statement - continuing operations 

 

2017/18

£million

 2016/17

(restated)

     £million

Revenue

10,531

10,247

EBIT

321

436

Net finance costs

(32)

(32)

Profit before tax

289

404

Tax

(53)

(97)

Profit after tax - continuing operations

236

307

Profit / (loss) after tax - discontinued operations

(70)

(12)

Profit after tax for the period

166

295

Basic EPS

20.4p

26.7p

Diluted EPS

20.3p

26.6p

 

Revenue increased 3% to £10,531 million due to the reasons discussed earlier in this report.

Earnings before interest and tax decreased from £436 million to £321 million in the current period, largely due to the reasons discussed earlier in this report.

Net finance costs are flat compared to prior year at £32 million for those reasons described earlier in this report offset by a reduction in the net interest on defined benefit obligations as a result of the lower opening discount rates year on year.

The tax charge decreased from £97 million to £53 million reflecting lower statutory profit in the year. Tax credits on non-headline items increased as a result of the recognition of previously unrecognised deferred tax assets in Greece.

Basic and diluted EPS have both decreased year on year reflecting the lower reported profit after tax.

 

Non-headline items

Statutory profit before tax of £289 million (2016/17: £404 million) includes non-headline charges of £93 million (2016/17: £96 million). These charges are analysed below. Further details can be found in note 3 to the financial information.

 

2017/18

£million

2016/17

(restated)

£million

Businesses to be exited

(9)

(10)

Merger and transformation related costs

(23)

(31)

Amortisation of acquisition intangibles

(32)

(33)

Property rationalisation costs

(29)

-

Acquisition related costs

2

-

Share plan taxable benefit compensation

2

(11)

Unieuro income

10

5

Total non-headline items before interest and tax

(79)

(80)

Net pension interest

(14)

(16)

Total non-headline items before tax

(93)

(96)

Tax

26

17

Profit / (loss) after tax - discontinued operations

(70)

(12)

Total non-headline items

(137)

(91)

 

Businesses to be exited in both years relates to the trading losses of the iD mobile operations in the Republic of Ireland.

Costs incurred in relation to the Merger relate to integration costs of £nil (2016/17: £18 million) and transformation costs of £23 million (2016/17: £13 million). All integration related costs were completed in the prior year. Transformational costs relate to both organisational and functional transformation initiatives in the UK and the Nordic region and include third party consultancy costs, redundancy costs and lease exit costs.

The charge for the amortisation of acquisition intangibles was £32 million (2016/17: £33 million) with the decrease due to some of the acquisition intangibles arising on the CPW Europe Acquisition being fully amortised during the prior period.

Unieuro income relates to a special dividend to the Group to distribute the proceeds raised through the 31.8% IPO of its investment in Unieuro on the Milan stock exchange.

Net pension interest was £14 million reflecting the charge incurred in relation to the Dixons Retail UK pension scheme.

 

Discontinued operations

On 4 May 2018, the Group agreed to sell the honeybee operations through an asset sale, which was completed on 31 May 2018. An impairment of £55 million has been recognised representing the difference between the expected proceeds and the book value of the related assets. The impairment, together with the trading loss recognised during the year of £21 million, materially represent the current year results from discontinued operations. Prior year losses from discontinued operations relate to the Group's share of losses from the Sprint joint venture operations, prior year honeybee trading losses offset by income from the write back of the previously impaired loan to Unieuro, which was repaid in the prior year.

 

Balance Sheet

 

 

2017/18

£million

2016/17

£million

Goodwill

3,088

3,111

Other fixed assets

872

973

Working capital

(96)

(203)

Net debt

(249)

(271)

Tax, pension & other

(419)

(555)

 

3,196

3,055

 

The movement in goodwill is primarily due to the disposal of the Spanish operations in the year offset by retranslation of currency denominated balances largely in the Nordics.

Other fixed assets have decreased in the year reflecting the sale of the Group's Spanish operations in the year, the impairment of honeybee associated intangible assets and the reclassification of the residual honeybee assets to assets held for sale as described above.

Working capital has increased in the year by £107 million due to a net increase in stock with higher levels in the Nordics offset by reduced levels in mobile stock, reflecting the changes in trading in both markets in the year, and a further decrease due to the sale of the Group's Spanish operations. This has been offset by increases in mobile commission receivables.

Trade and other payables decreased during the year due to the disposals described above, utilisation of previously recognised provisions, reduction of accruals as a result of the accelerated reconciliation of trade balances previously described in this report  partly offset by an increase in trade creditors associated with the increase in inventory.

Net debt has decreased as described above.

Other net liabilities (tax, pension & other) have decreased primarily as a result of the decrease in the IAS19 accounting pension deficit described below, a reduction in income tax payable as a result of lower taxable profits in the year, the sale of the Group's  Sprint joint venture operations and a reduction in deferred consideration following current year payments and revaluation, offset by the reclassification of residual carrying value of honeybee assets to assets held for sale as described above. 

 

 

 

Cash flow statement

 

2017/18

£million

 2016/17
£million

EBIT - continuing operations   

321

436

EBIT - discontinued operations

(84)

(19)

Depreciation and amortisation

204

186

Working capital

(91)

(154)

Other operating cash flows

(38)

(86)

Cash flows from operating activities

312

363

 

 

 

Acquisitions

(10)

(46)

Capital expenditure

(187)

(242)

Other investing cash flows

65

42

Cash flows from investing activities

(132)

(246)

 

 

 

Dividends paid

(130)

(115)

Other financing cash flows

(62)

(51)

Cash flows from financing activities

(192)

(166)

 

 

 

Increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

(12)

(49)

 

The statutory EBIT decrease, dividend cash flows, capital expenditure and working capital outflows in the year are for those reasons previously outlined in this report.

Other operating cash flows relate to pension contributions of £46 million, taxation cash flows of £62 million offset by the non-cash impairment of honeybee assets in the year. The decrease year on year is principally due to the current year honeybee asset impairment

Acquisition cash outflows comprise £7 million of deferred consideration payments for the acquisitions of Simplifydigital of £5 million and the 'Epoq' kitchen business in the Nordics of £2 million (2016/17: £10 million and £2 million respectively), together with £3 million of capital injected into the US joint venture with Sprint prior to disposal (2016/17: £29 million). The prior year also included £5 million for the acquisition of ten FONA stores in Denmark.

Other investing cash flows relate to proceeds received following the disposal of the Group's Spanish operations and the disposal of the Sprint joint venture in the period and additional consideration received in relation to prior period disposals.

Other financing cash out flows of £62 million relate to interest and finance lease payments in the year and repayment of external borrowing. The increase in out flows from the prior year relates to repayments of borrowings under the revolving credit facilities of £4 million in FY 2017/18 and higher interest costs in the current year.

 

Comprehensive income / changes in equity

Total equity of the Group has increased from £3,055 million to £3,196 million primarily reflecting the total statutory profit of £166 million, the gain on retranslation of overseas operations of £8 million and actuarial gain (net of taxation) relating to the defined benefit pension scheme of £71 million offset by the payment of dividends of £130 million.

 

Other matters

Pensions

The IAS 19 accounting deficit of the defined benefit section of the UK pension scheme of Dixons Retail amounted to £470 million at 28 April 2018 compared to £589 million at 29 April 2017. Contributions during the period under the terms of the deficit reduction plan amounted to £46 million (2016/17: £43 million), with future contributions under the current agreement with the Trustees of the fund, of £46 million per annum to be paid until 2028/29, with a further payment of £25 million in 2029/30. The deficit has decreased during the year as a result of changes in market based financial assumptions, primarily the discount and inflation rates.

 

Dividends

The Board declared an interim dividend of 3.5p per share, in line with last year. The interim dividend was paid on 26 January 2018.

We are proposing a final dividend of 7.75p per share, maintaining the total dividend for the year at 11.25p per share. The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the Company's forthcoming Annual General Meeting. The ex-dividend date is 23 August 2018, with a record date of 24 August 2018 and an intended final dividend payment date of 21 September 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Information

Consolidated income statement

 

 

Year ended 28 April 2018

 

Year ended 29 April 2017 (restated)

 

Note

Headline*

£million

Non-

headline*

£million

Total
£million

Headline

(restated)*
£million

Non-

headline

(restated)*

£million

Total
£million

Continuing operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

2

10,525

6

10,531

10,242

5

10,247

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) before interest and tax

2,3

400

(79)

321

516

(80)

436

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finance income

 

14

-

14

17

-

17

Finance costs

 

(32)

(14)

(46)

(33)

(16)

(49)

Net finance costs

4

(18)

(14)

(32)

(16)

(16)

(32)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) before tax

 

382

(93)

289

500

(96)

404

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax (expense) / credit

5

(79)

26

(53)

(114)

17

(97)

Profit / (loss) after tax - continuing operations

 

303

(67)

236

386

(79)

307

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss after tax - discontinued operations

9

-

(70)

(70)

-

(12)

(12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) after tax for the period

 

303

(137)

166

386

(91)

295

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings per share (pence)

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic - continuing operations

 

26.2p

 

20.4p

33.5p

 

26.7p

Diluted - continuing operations

 

26.1p

 

20.3p

33.4p

 

26.6p

Basic - total

 

 

 

14.4p

 

 

25.6p

Diluted - total

 

 

 

14.3p

 

 

25.5p

 

*     Headline results exclude amortisation of acquisition intangibles, Merger integration and transformation costs, property rationalisation costs, acquisition related costs, net interest on defined benefit pension schemes, businesses to be exited and discontinued operations. Such excluded items are described as 'non-headline'. The headline and non-headline results have been restated for year ended 29 April 2017 to reflect the current period classification of the Sprint joint venture operations, Spanish operations and the honeybee operations as discontinued as discussed in note 3 and note 11.

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

 

Year ended

 28 April

 2018
£million

Year ended 29 April

2017
£million

Profit after tax for the period

166

295

 

 

 

Items that may be reclassified to the income statement in subsequent years:

 

 

Cash flow hedges

 

 

   Fair value movements recognised in other comprehensive income

(5)

20

Reclassified and reported in income statement

(11)

(18)

Amount recognised in inventories

29

22

Available-for-sale financial assets

 

 

   (Losses) / gains arising during the period

(2)

19

Exchange gain arising on translation of foreign operations

8

76

Tax on items that may be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss

-

(3)

 

19

116

 

 

 

Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement in subsequent years:

 

 

Actuarial  gains / (losses)  on defined benefit pension schemes            - UK

87

(144)

                                                                                                                 - Overseas

(1)

-

Deferred tax on actuarial gains / (losses) on defined benefit pension schemes

(15)

21

 

71

(123)

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income /  (expense)  for the period (taken to equity)

90

(7)

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the period

256

288

 

 

Consolidated balance sheet

 

Note

28 April
 2018
£million

29 April
2017
£million

Non-current assets

 

 

 

Goodwill

 

3,088

3,111

Intangible assets

 

478

553

Property, plant & equipment

 

394

420

Investments

 

17

19

Interests in joint ventures and associates

 

1

18

Trade and other receivables

 

507

531

Deferred tax assets

 

240

253

 

 

4,725

4,905

Current assets

 

 

 

Inventory

 

1,145

1,101

Deferred consideration

 

-

3

Trade and other receivables

 

1,154

1,133

Derivative assets

 

27

17

Assets held for sale

9

17

-

Cash and cash equivalents

 

228

209

 

 

2,571

2,463

Total assets

 

7,296

7,368

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

Trade and other payables

 

(2,505)

(2,502)

Derivative liabilities

 

(7)

(13)

Deferred and contingent consideration

 

(1)

(8)

Income tax payable

 

(72)

(94)

Loans and other borrowings

 

(63)

(10)

Finance lease obligations

 

(3)

(3)

Liabilities held for sale

9

(2)

-

Provisions

 

(67)

(84)

 

 

(2,720)

(2,714)

 

 

 

 

Non-current liabilities

 

 

 

Trade and other payables

 

(318)

(368)

Deferred and contingent consideration

 

(12)

(14)

Loans and other borrowings

 

(329)

(381)

Finance lease obligations

 

(82)

(86)

Retirement benefit obligations

 

(472)

(591)

Deferred tax liabilities

 

(135)

(138)

Provisions

 

(32)

(21)

 

 

(1,380)

(1,599)

Total liabilities

 

(4,100)

(4,313)

Net assets

 

3,196

3,055

 

 

 

 

Capital and reserves

 

 

 

Share capital

 

1

1

Share premium reserve

 

2,263

2,260

Accumulated profits

 

1,643

1,513

Translation reserve

 

39

31

Demerger reserve

 

(750)

(750)

Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent company

 

3,196

3,055

 

 

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

 

Note

Share
capital
£million

Share
premium reserve
£million

Accumulated profits
£million

Translation reserve
£million

Demerger
reserve
£million

Total equity
£million

At 1 May 2016

 

1

2,256

1,398

(45)

(750)

2,860

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit for the period

 

-

-

295

-

-

295

Other comprehensive income and expense recognised directly in equity

 

-

-

(83)

76

-

(7)

Total comprehensive income and expense
for the period

 

-

-

212

76

-

288

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ordinary shares issues

 

-

4

-

-

-

4

Equity dividends

7

-

-

(115)

-

-

(115)

Net movement in relation to share schemes

 

-

-

17

-

-

17

Tax on items recognised directly in reserves

 

-

-

1

-

-

1

At 29 April 2017

 

1

2,260

1,513

31

(750)

3,055

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit for the period

 

-

-

166

-

-

166

Other comprehensive income and expense recognised directly in equity

 

 

-

 

-

82

8

 

-

90

Total comprehensive income and expense
for the period

 

 

-

 

-

248

8

 

-

256

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ordinary shares issued

 

-

3

(2)

-

-

1

Equity dividends

7

-

-

(130)

-

-

(130)

Net movement in relation to share schemes

 

-

-

14

-

-

14

Tax on items recognised directly in reserves

 

-

-

-

-

-

-

At 28 April 2018

 

1

2,263

1,643

39

(750)

3,196

 

Consolidated cash flow statement

 

Note

Year ended

 28 April

 2018

£million

Year ended 29 April

 2017 (restated)*

£million

Operating activities

 

 

 

Cash generated from operations

8

420

478

Special contributions to defined benefit pension scheme

 

(46)

(43)

Income tax paid

 

(62)

(72)

Net cash flows from operating activities

 

312

363

Investing activities

 

 

 

Interest received

 

-

2

Net cash outflow arising from acquisitions

 

(7)

(17)

Proceeds from disposal of property, plant & equipment

 

2

9

Proceeds on sale of business

 

63

23

Dividends received from available-for-sale investments

 

-

8

Acquisition of property, plant & equipment and other intangibles

 

(187)

(242)

Investment in joint ventures

 

(3)

(29)

Net cash flows from investing activities

 

(132)

(246)

Financing activities

 

 

 

Interest paid

 

(19)

(17)

Repayment of obligations under finance leases

 

(10)

(8)

Issue of ordinary shares

 

1

4

Equity dividends paid

 

(130)

(115)

Decrease in borrowings

 

(32)

(28)

Facility arrangement fees paid

 

(2)

(2)

Net cash flows from financing activities

 

(192)

(166)

 

 

 

 

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts

 

(12)

(49)

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at beginning of the period

 

199

233

Currency translation differences

 

(2)

15

Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at end of the period

8

185

199

 

* - The cash flow statement for 2016/17 has been restated to reconcile to Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts rather than Cash and cash equivalents.

 

 

 

Notes to the Financial Information (continued)

1     Basis of preparation

The financial information, which comprises the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated balance sheet, consolidated statement of changes in equity, consolidated cash flow statement and extracts from the notes to the accounts for the year ended 28 April 2018 and 29 April 2017, has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the full financial statements and on a going concern basis.

In their consideration of going concern, the directors have reviewed the Group's future cash forecasts and profit projections, which are based on market data and past experience. The directors are of the opinion that the Group's forecasts and projections, which take into account reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group is able to operate within its current facilities and comply with its banking covenants for the foreseeable future. In arriving at their conclusion that the Group has adequate financial resources, the directors were mindful of the level of borrowings and facilities available and that the Group has a robust policy towards liquidity and cash flow management.

Accordingly the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future and consequently the directors continue to apply the going concern basis in the preparation of the financial statements.

The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Sections 434 to 436 of the Companies Act 2006 and is an abridged version of the Group's financial statements for the year ended 28 April 2018 which were approved by the directors on 20 June 2018.  Statutory accounts for the year ended 29 April 2017 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, the auditor has reported on those accounts, their report was unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.  Statutory accounts for the year ended 28 April 2018 will be delivered in due course.  The auditor has reported on those accounts, their report was unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU, IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and those parts of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to those companies reporting under IFRS. The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiary undertakings for the year ended 28 April 2018. 

The Group's income statement and segmental analysis identify separately headline performance and non-headline items. Headline performance measures reflect adjustments to total performance measures. The directors consider 'headline' performance measures to be a more accurate reflection of the ongoing trading performance of the Group and believe that these measures provide additional useful information for shareholders on the Group's performance and are consistent with how business performance is measured internally. The accounting policy for the use of these measures is outlined in the 'Alternative Performance Measures' section of the Glossary and definitions.

Non-headline items in the current and prior periods comprise businesses to be exited, amortisation of acquisition intangibles, Merger integration and transformation costs, property rationalisation costs, acquisition related costs, net interest on defined benefit pension schemes, share plan taxable benefit compensation and discontinued operations. A reconciliation of headline profit and losses to total profits and losses is shown in note 2. Items excluded from headline results can evolve from one financial year to the next depending on the nature of exceptional items or one off type activities described above. Headline performance measures and non-headline performance measures may not be directly comparable with other similarly titled measures or "adjusted" revenue or profit measures used by other companies.

2 Segmental analysis

The Group's operating segments reflect the segments routinely reviewed by the Board and which are used to manage performance and allocate resources. This information is predominantly based on geographical areas which are either managed separately or have similar trading characteristics such that they can be aggregated together into one segment.

The Group's reportable segments have been identified
as follows:

•       UK & Ireland comprises operations in the UK and Ireland.

•       Nordics operates in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

•       Greece, consisting of our ongoing operations in Greece and for non-headline items, our previously disposed operations in Southern Europe.

UK & Ireland, Nordics and Greece are involved in the sale of consumer electronics and mobile technology products and services, primarily through stores or online channels.

Transactions between segments are on an arm's length basis.

 

2 Segmental analysis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 28 April 2018

 

 

UK &

 Ireland £million

Nordics £million

 Greece
£million

Eliminations
£million

Total
 £million

Headline external revenue

 

6,645

3,470

410

-

10,525

Inter-segmental revenue

 

67

-

-

(67)

-

Total headline revenue

 

6,712

3,470

410

(67)

10,525

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headline EBIT

 

281

101

18

-

400

 

 

Reconciliation of headline profit to total profit before tax

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 28 April 2018

 

 

Headline
profit /
 (loss)
£million

 

 

Businesses to be exited £million

Amortisation of acquisition intangibles £million

Merger integration and transformation costs

£million

Property rationalisation

£million

Pension scheme interest

£million

Acquisition related

£million

Unieuro income

£million

Share plan taxable benefit compensation
£million

Total
profit / (loss) £million

UK & Ireland

281

(9)

(19)

(9)

(29)

-

2

-

2

219

Nordics

101

-

(12)

(14)

-

-

-

-

-

75

Greece

18

-

(1)

-

-

-

-

10

-

27

EBIT

400

(9)

(32)

(23)

(29)

-

2

10

2

321

Finance income

14

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

14

Finance costs

(32)

-

-

-

-

(14)

-

-

-

(46)

Profit / (loss) before tax

382

(9)

(32)

(23)

(29)

(14)

2

10

2

289

                       

 

 

2 Segmental analysis continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 29 April 2017 (restated)

 

 

UK &

 Ireland £million

Nordics £million

Greece
£million

Eliminations
£million

Total
 £million

Headline external revenue (restated)*

 

6,735

3,159

348

-

10,242

Inter-segmental revenue

 

81

-

-

(81)

-

Total headline revenue (restated)*

 

6,816

3,159

348

(81)

10,242

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headline EBIT (restated)*

 

417

89

10

-

516

 

*Headline results and total profit/(loss) have been restated to exclude the results of the Sprint Joint Venture operations, Spanish operations and honeybee operations which have been classified as discontinued operations as discussed in note 3 and note 11.

 

Reconciliation of headline profit to total profit before tax

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 29 April 2017 (restated)

 

 

Headline
profit / (loss)
(restated)*
£million

 

 

Businesses to be exited*

£million

Amortisation of acquisition intangibles £million

Merger intergration and transformation costs £million

Pension scheme interest

£million

Unieuro income

£million

Share plan taxable benefit compensation
£million

Total
profit / (loss) £million

UK & Ireland

417

(10)

(21)

(28)

-

-

(10)

348

Nordics

89

-

(12)

(3)

-

-

(1)

73

Greece

10

-

-

-

-

5

-

15

EBIT

516

(10)

(33)

(31)

-

5

(11)

436

Finance income

17

-

-

-

-

-

-

17

Finance costs

(33)

-

-

-

(16)

-

-

(49)

Profit / (loss) before tax

500

(10)

(33)

(31)

(16)

5

(11)

404

                             

 

*      Headline results and total profit/(loss) have been restated to exclude the results of the Sprint Joint Venture operations, Spanish operations and honeybee operations, which have been classified as discontinued operations as discussed in note 3 and note 11.

 

Restatement of segmental information

 

As discussed above, during the period the Group's reportable segments have been changed, and comparatives have been restated accordingly. The below tables provide reconciliations for the headline Revenue and headline EBIT for the year ended 29 April 2017. The relevant adjustments are:

•       Removal of honeybee revenue from Connected World Services to discontinued operations

•       Allocation of previous B2B operations within Connected World Services to geographic segments

•       Removal of Spain results from Southern Europe as treated as a discontinued operation (see note 11) and renaming of the Southern Europe segment to Greece

 

Year ended 29 April 2017

 

 

Total headline Revenue as previously reported £million

Remove honeybee revenues £million

Reallocate remaining CWS revenues
£million

Remove Spain revenues
£million

Total
 £million

UK & Ireland

 

6,550

-

185

-

6,735

Nordics

 

3,156

-

3

-

3,159

Southern Europe / Greece

 

661

-

10

(323)

348

 

213

(15)

(198)

-

-

 

10,580

(15)

-

(323)

10,242

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total headline EBIT as previously reported £million

Remove honeybee results £million

Reallocate remaining CWS results
£million

Remove Spain results
£million

Total
 £million

UK & Ireland

 

385

-

32

-

417

Nordics

 

89

-

-

-

89

Southern Europe / Greece

 

22

-

-

(12)

10

 

21

11

(32)

-

-

 

517

11

-

(12)

516

 

3 Non-headline items

 

Note

Year ended

28 April
2018

£million

Year ended

29 April
2017

(restated)*

£million

Included in revenue:

 

 

 

Businesses to be exited

(i)

6

5

 

 

6

5

 

 

 

 

Included in profit / (loss) before interest and tax:

 

 

 

Businesses to be exited

(i)

(9)

(10)

Amortisation of acquisition intangibles

(ii)

(32)

(33)

Exceptional items              - Merger and transformation related costs

(iii)

(23)

(31)

                                          - Property rationalisation costs

(iv)

(29)

-

                                          - Acquisition related

(v)

2

-

Share plan taxable benefit compensation

(vii)

2

(11)

Unieuro income

(viii)

10

5

 

 

(79)

(80)

 

 

 

 

Included in net finance costs:

 

 

 

Net non-cash finance costs on defined benefit pension schemes

(vi)

(14)

(16)

 

 

 

 

Total impact on profit / (loss) before tax

 

(93)

(96)

 

 

 

 

Tax on non-headline items

(ix)

26

17

Total impact on profit / (loss) after tax - continuing operations

 

(67)

(79)

 

 

 

 

Discontinued operations

9

(70)

(12)

Total impact on profit / (loss) after tax

 

(137)

(91)

 

*      Comparative hon-headline results for the year ended 29 April 2017 have been restated as set out in note 11.

 

 (i)   Businesses to be exited:

        Comprises the trading result of businesses to be exited where they do not meet the criteria under IFRS 5 for separate disclosure as discontinued operations. In the current period, this comprises the iD mobile operations in the Republic of Ireland.

(ii)   Amortisation of acquisition intangibles:

        A charge of £32 million arose during the year in relation to acquisition intangibles arising on the CPW Europe Acquisition, the Dixons Retail Merger and the Simplifydigital acquisition (2016/17: £33 million).

 

3 Non-headline items continued

 (iii) Exceptional items - Merger and transformation related costs:

 

Year ended

28 April
2018

£million

Year

 ended

29 April
2017

£million

Merger integration costs

-

(18)

Transformation related costs

(23)

(13)

 

(23)

(31)

        The Merger has given rise to the following costs which have been treated as exceptional items:

•    Merger integration costs of £nil (2016/17: £18 million) relate to the reorganisation of the Group following the Merger and primarily comprise professional fees, employee severance and incentive costs associated with the integration process, which are now complete.

•    Transformation costs of £23 million in the current year relate primarily to the business restructuring and rebranding in the Nordics of £14 million (2016/17: £3 million), together with UK business restructuring and functional transformation costs of £9 million (2016/17: £10 million) primarily related to redundancy and consultancy fees.

 (iv) Property rationalisation costs:

        Following the Merger it was announced that the Group would launch a major roll-out of its fully refurbished 3-in-1 store concept in the UK & Ireland. This involves merging the remaining PC World and Currys stores and inserting a Carphone Warehouse, reducing the overall store portfolio by 134. The costs associated with this initiative, being early lease termination premiums, onerous lease provisions, dilapidations and fixed asset impairments, have been treated as exceptional items.

        An additional £29 million has been provided following a review of the current status of the remaining stores yet to be exited.

(v)   Acquisition related:

Acquisition related credit of £2 million is a result of changes in the fair value of contingent consideration payable in relation to the Simplifydigital acquisition in 2016.

(vi)  Net non-cash financing costs on defined benefit pension schemes:

        Under IAS 19 'Employee Benefits', the net interest charge on defined benefit pension schemes is calculated by applying the corporate bond yield rates applicable on the last day of the previous financial year to the net defined benefit obligation. Corporate bond yield rates vary over time which in turn creates volatility in the income statement and balance sheet and results in a non-cash remeasurement cost which can be volatile due to corporate bond yield rates prevailing on a particular day and is also unrepresentative of the actual investment gains or losses made or the liabilities paid and payable. Consistent with a number of other companies, the accounting effects of these non-cash revaluations of net defined benefit pension liabilities have been excluded from headline earnings.

(vii) Share plan taxable benefit compensation:

        In the prior year a provision was made for compensation payable to participants of the Share Plan for any taxable benefit arising on the waiver of any portion of loans granted under the scheme. Following the payment of compensation to the participants in the current year, the excess provision has been released.

(viii)         Unieuro income:

        In November 2013, the Group disposed of its Unieuro operations, but retained an investment of 14.96%. The investment was initially recognised at £nil based on the fair value of the retained interest. In March 2017, Unieuro undertook an IPO for 31.8% of its shareholdings, which reduced the Group's investment to 10.2% of the Unieuro operations. As a result of the IPO, the Group received a dividend from the intermediate holding company of £5 million, which was treated as non-headline in 2016/17 as relates to a disposal of a portion of our investment.

        In October 2017, IEH announced a corporate restructuring, whereby the Group obtained direct control of the investment of 7.18% of Unieuro, together with a receivable for previous dividends and the share sales. The amount realised as a result of the divided and share sale of £10 million has been recycled to the income statement.

(ix) Taxation

        The effective tax rate on non-headline items of 28% is higher than the statutory UK tax rate of 19% due to a one-off credit in relation to the recognition of previously unrecognised deferred tax assets in Greece of £10 million.
 

4 Net finance costs

 

Year ended

28 April
2018

£million

Year

 ended

29 April
2017

£million

Unwind of discounts on trade receivables

14

15

Interest receivable

-

2

Finance income

14

17

 

 

 

Interest on bank overdrafts, loans and borrowings

(13)

(12)

Finance lease interest payable

(6)

(6)

Net interest on defined benefit pension obligations(i)

(14)

(16)

Unwind of discounts on liabilities

(6)

(8)

Amortisation of facility fees

(1)

(1)

Other interest expense

(6)

(6)

Finance costs

(46)

(49)

 

 

 

Total net finance costs

(32)

(32)

 

 

 

Headline total net finance costs

(18)

(16)

 

(i) Headline finance costs exclude net interest on defined benefit pension obligations  (see note 3).

 

5 Tax

The effective tax rate on headline earnings of 21% (2016/17 restated: 22%) has decreased due to a reduction in items attracting no tax relief or liability and a reduction in tax paid, largely as a result of statutory rate changes in both the UK and Nordics. The UK corporation tax rate for the year ended 28 April 2018 was 19% (2016/17: 20% for the 11 months to 31 March 2017 and 19% thereafter).

 

 

 

6 Earnings per share

 

 

Year ended

28 April
2018

£million

Year

 ended

29 April
2017

(restated)

£million

Headline earnings

 

 

 

Continuing operations

 

303

386

 

 

 

 

Total earnings / (loss)

 

 

 

Continuing operations

 

236

307

Discontinued operations

 

(70)

(12)

Total

 

166

295

 

 

 

 

 

 

Million

Million

Weighted average number of shares

 

 

 

Average shares in issue

 

1,157

1,152

Less average holding by Group ESOT

 

(1)

(1)

For basic earnings per share

 

1,156

1,151

Dilutive effect of share options and other incentive schemes

 

4

4

For diluted earnings per share

 

1,160

1,155

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pence

Pence

Basic earnings per share

 

 

 

Total (continuing and discontinued operations)

 

14.4

25.6

Adjustment in respect of discontinued operations

 

6.0

1.1

Continuing operations

 

20.4

26.7

Adjustments for non-headline - continuing operations (net of taxation)

 

5.8

6.8

Headline basic earnings per share

 

26.2

33.5

 

 

 

 

Diluted earnings per share

 

 

 

Total (continuing and discontinued operations)

 

14.3

25.5

Adjustment in respect of discontinued operations

 

6.0

1.1

Continuing operations

 

20.3

26.6

Adjustments for hon-headline - continuing operations (net of taxation)

 

5.8

6.8

Headline diluted earnings per share

 

26.1

33.4

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share are based on the profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders. Headline earnings per share is presented in order to show the underlying performance of the Group. Adjustments used to determine headline earnings are described further in note 3.

7 Equity dividends

 

28 April 2018

£million

29 April
2017

£million

Amounts recognised as distributions to equity shareholders in the period

 - on ordinary shares of 0.1p each

 

 

Final dividend for the year ended 30 April 2016 of 6.50p per ordinary share

-

75

Interim dividend for the year ended 29 April 2017 of 3.50p per ordinary share

-

40

Final dividend for the year ended 29 April 2017 of 7.75p per ordinary share

89

-

Interim dividend for the year ended 28 April 2018 of 3.50p per ordinary share

41

-

 

130

115

 

 

The following distribution is proposed but had not been effected at 28 April 2018 and is subject to shareholders' approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting:

 

£million

Final dividend for the year ended 28 April 2018 of 7.75p per ordinary share

90

 

 

8 Notes to the cash flow statement

a) Reconciliation of operating profit to net cash inflow from operating activities

 

Year ended

28 April 2018

£million

Year

 ended

29 April
2017

(restated)

£million

Profit before interest and tax - continuing operations

321

436

Profit before interest and tax - discontinued operations

(83)

(19)

Depreciation and amortisation

204

186

Investment income

-

(8)

Share-based payment charge

14

17

Share of results of joint ventures

3

17

Profit on disposal of subsidiary

(2)

-

Profit/(loss) on disposal of fixed assets

(1)

3

Impairments and other non-cash items

56

-

Operating cash flows before movements in working capital

512

632

 

 

 

Movements in working capital:

 

 

Increase in inventory

(72)

(112)

Increase in receivables

(32)

(130)

Increase in payables

17

110

Decrease in provisions

(5)

(22)

 

(92)

(154)

 

 

 

Cash generated from operations

420

478

In the current year, the presentation of the above reconciliation and statement of cash flows include both continuing and discontinued operations. Comparative amounts have been presented accordingly.

 

b) Analysis of net debt

 

 

 

29 April
2017
£million

Cash flow
£million

Other
 non-cash
movements
£million

Currency
translation
 £million

28 April 2018
£million

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

209

21

-

(2)

228

Bank Overdrafts

 

 

(10)

(33)

 

 

(43)

Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts

 

 

199

(12)

-

(2)

185

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borrowings due within one year

 

 

-

(20)

-

-

(20)

Borrowings due after more than one year

 

 

(381)

52

-

-

(329)

Obligations under finance leases

 

 

(89)

10

(6)

-

(85)

 

 

 

(470)

42

(6)

-

(434)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (debt) / funds

 

 

(271)

30

(6)

(2)

(249)

 

 

 

 

1 May
2016
£million

Cash flow
£million

Other
 non-cash
movements
£million

Currency
translation
 £million

29 April 2017
£million

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

233

(39)

-

15

209

Bank Overdrafts

 

 

-

(10)

-

-

(10)

Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts

 

 

233

(49)

-

15

199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borrowings due within one year

 

 

-

-

-

-

-

Borrowings due after more than one year

 

 

(409)

28

-

--

(381)

Obligations under finance leases

 

 

(91)

8

(6)

-

(89)

 

 

 

(500)

36

(6)

-

(480)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net (debt) / funds

 

 

(267)

(13)

(6)

15

(271)

 

8 Notes to the cash flow statement continued

c) Reconciliation of cash inflow from operations to free cash flow

 

Year ended

28 April 2018

£million

Year

 ended

29 April
2017

(restated)

£million

Cash inflow from operations

420

478

Operating cash flows from discontinued operations

11

(1)

Taxation

(63)

(71)

Interest, facility arrangement fees, dividends from investments and repayment of finance leases

(24)

(15)

Capital expenditure

(173)

(222)

Proceeds from disposal of fixed assets

2

9

Other movements

(1)

-

Free cash flow

172

178

 

9 Discontinued operations and assets held for sale

 

Spain

On 29 September 2017, the Group completed the disposal of Phone House Spain S.L.U, Connected World Services Europe Srl and Smarthouse Spain S.A which together represented the trading operations in Spain. Total consideration of €58m (£51 million) was received, and cash of €13 million (£11 million) was disposed. A gain of £1 million arose on the disposal, being the difference between the proceeds of disposal and the carrying amount of the subsidiaries' net assets and attributable goodwill. The trading results of the operations up to the date of disposal have been classified as discontinued (£nil, 2016/17: £9 million profit).

 

honeybee

On 4 May 2018, the Group agreed to sell the honeybee operations through an asset sale, which was completed on 31 May 2018. These operations have been classified as a disposal group held for sale and presented separately in the balance sheet. An impairment of £55 million was recognised on classification to assets held for sale, representing the difference between the expected proceeds and the book value of the related assets. The impairment, together with the trading loss recognised during the year of £21 million ( 2016/17: £11 million loss), have been classified as a discontinued operation.

 

Sprint

On 7 June 2017 agreement was reached to dispose of the Group's 50% interest in the Sprint Connect LLC joint venture to Sprint Corporation. Proceeds of $22 million (£17 million) was received. £nil gain or loss was recognised in relation to the disposal. The share of results of the operation to the date of disposal have been classified as discontinued (£3 million loss, 2016/17: £17 million loss) together with additional costs of £6 million incurred by the Group post closure.

 

Other

As previously reported the sale of operations in Germany was completed on 5 May 2015, the Netherlands on 30 June 2015 and Portugal on 31 August 2015. A net gain of £1m has been recognised in relation to reversal of previously held provisions.

 

For 2016/17, the net profit of £4 million recognised in relation to Unieuro primarily related to a repayment of a previously impaired loan.

 

a)    Profit / (loss) after tax - discontinued operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 28 April 2018

 

 

honeybee £million

Spain £million

 Sprint Joint Venture £million

Other
£million

Total
 £million

Revenue

 

3

144

-

-

147

Expenses

 

(24)

(144)

(6)

-

(174)

Impairement of assets

 

(55)

-

-

-

(55)

Share of results of joint venture

 

-

-

(3)

-

(3)

Investment income

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) before tax

 

(76)

-

(9)

-

(85)

Income tax

 

13

-

-

-

13

(Loss) / profit on disposal

 

-

1

-

1

2

 

 

(63)

1

(9)

1

(70)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 29 April 2017

 

 

honeybee £million

Spain £million

 Sprint Joint Venture £million

Other
£million

Total
 £million

Revenue

 

15

323

-

-

338

Expenses

 

(26)

(312)

(1)

(1)

(340)

Share of results of joint venture

 

-

-

(17)

-

(17)

Investment income

 

-

-

-

5

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) before tax

 

(11)

11

(18)

4

(14)

Income tax

 

4

(2)

-

-

2

(Loss) / profit on disposal

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

(7)

9

(18)

4

(12)

 

     b) Cash flows from discontinued operations

The net cash flows incurred by the discontinued operation during the year are as follows. These cash flows are included within the Consolidated cash flow statement:

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 28 April 2018

 

 

honeybee £million

Spain £million

 Sprint Joint Venture £million

Other
£million

Total
 £million

Operating activities

 

(7)

(3)

(2)

1

(11)

Investing activites

 

(12)

44

14

-

46

Financing activities

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

(19)

41

12

1

35

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year ended 29 April 2017

 

 

honeybee £million

Spain £million

 Sprint Joint Venture £million

Other
£million

Total
 £million

Operating activities

 

(12)

14

(1)

(1)

-

Investing activites

 

(16)

(5)

(29)

22

(28)

Financing activities

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

(28)

9

(30)

21

(28)

 

 

 

c) Assets and liabilities held for sale

 

The assets and liabilities held for sale relate to the honeybee operations. The major classes of assets and liabilities comprising the operations classified as held for sale are as follows:

 

 

 

28 April 2018 £million

Intangiable assets

8

Trade receivables

9

Total assets classified as held for sale

17

 

 

Deferred income

(2)

Total liabilities classified as held for sale

(2)

 

 

Net assets of disposal group

15

 

10 Related party transactions

 

Transactions between the Group's subsidiary undertakings, which are related parties, have been eliminated on consolidation and accordingly are not disclosed.

The Group had the following transactions and balances with its associates and joint venture:

 

28 April 2018

£million

29 April
2017

£million

Revenue from sale of goods and services

11

11

Amounts owed to the Group

2

6

 

All transactions entered into with related parties were completed on an arm's length basis.

 

11 Restatement of comparative information

As set out in note 3, the Spain operations, the results of the Sprint joint venture and the honeybee operations have been classified as discontinued operations in accordance with IFRS 5 "Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations". In accordance with the requirements, comparative results for the year ended 29 April 2017 have been restated accordingly.

 

a)    Consolidated income statement

The impact of the restatement on the consolidated income statement has been set out below:

 

 

Headline results

 

Non-Headline results

Total

 

2016/17 as previously reported

£million

honeybee

£million

Spain £million

Sprint Joint Venture

£million

2016/17 as restated

£million

2016/17 as previously reported

£million

honeybee

£million

Spain £million

Sprint Joint Venture

£million

2016/17 as restated

£million

2016/17 as previously reported and restated
£million

Continuing operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

10,580

(15)

(323)

-

10,242

5

-

-

-

-

10,247

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) from operations before share of results of joint ventures

517

11

(12)

-

516

(82)

-

1

1

(80)

436

Share of results of joint ventures

-

-

-

-

-

(17)

-

-

17

-

-

Profit / (loss) before interest and tax

517

11

(12)

-

516

(99)

-

1

18

(80)

436

Net finance costs

(16)

-

-

-

(16)

(16)

-

-

-

(16)

(32)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) before tax

501

11

(12)

-

500

(115)

-

1

18

(96)

404

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax (expense) / credit

(112)

(4)

2

-

(114)

17

-

-

-

17

(97)

Profit / (loss) after tax - continuing operations

389

7

(10)

-

386

(98)

-

1

18

(79)

307

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss after tax - discontinued operations

-

-

-

-

-

4

(7)

9

(18)

(12)

(12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit / (loss) after tax for the period

389

7

(10)

-

386

(94)

(7)

10

-

(91)

295

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings per share (pence)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic - continuing operations

33.8p

 

 

 

33.5p

 

 

 

 

 

26.7p

Diluted - continuing operations

33.7p

 

 

 

33.4p

 

 

 

 

 

26.6p

Basic - total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25.6p

Diluted - total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25.5p

 

Segmental information

The comparative segmental information provided in note 2 has been adjusted to reflect the above reclassifications. Both the Sprint joint venture and the honeybee operations were previously part of the Connected World Services segment, which was split and moved to either the UK & Ireland segment or a honeybee segment, which has now been removed. The Spain operations were previously presented within Southern Europe (subsequently renamed Greece).

 

        b)    Other disclosures

In accordance with the policy as set out in note 1, there have been no restatements made to the consolidated balance sheet, consolidated statement of other comprehensive income, consolidated statement of changes in equity or consolidated cash flow statement, as these statements do not separately distinguish headline and non-headline measures.

Risks to Achieving the Group's objectives

The Board continually reviews and monitors the risks and uncertainties which could have a material effect on its results. The updated risks and uncertainties (including an additional taxation risk) are listed below. Risks 1 to 13, and the factors which mitigate them, are set out in more detail in the 2016/17 Annual Report and Accounts on pages 16 to 21 and remain relevant in the current period.

1.     Dependence on networks in driving profitability, cash flow and market share;

2.     Dependence on key suppliers in driving profitability, cash flow and market share;

3.     The decision of the UK to leave the European Union could lead to a period of economic uncertainty and a loss of consumer confidence, foreign exchange volatility and long term changes in tax and other regulations which may impact the Group's operations and financial performance;

 

4.     A potential Greek exit from the Euro could lead to a deterioration in consumer confidence impacting the performance of the Greek business, Kotsovolos; and

 

5.     Risks to the business model in the face of a changing consumer environment could result in a loss of competitive advantage impacting financial performance;

6.     Failure to comply with Financial Services regulation could result in reputational damage, customer compensation, financial penalties and a resultant deterioration in financial performance;

 

7.     Failure in appropriately safeguarding sensitive information and failure to comply with legislation could result in reputational damage, financial penalties and a resultant deterioration in financial performance;

 

8.     Failure to appropriately safeguard against cyber risks and associated attacks could result in reputational damage, customer compensation, financial penalties and a resultant deterioration in financial performance;

 

9.     Failure to action appropriate Health and Safety measures resulting in injury could give rise to reputational damage and financial penalties;

 

10.  Business continuity plans are not effective and major incident response is inadequate resulting in reputational damage and a loss of competitive advantage;

 

11.  Failure to adequately invest in and integrate the Group's IT systems and infrastructure could result in restricted growth and reputational damage impacting financial performance;

12.  Failure to attract, develop and retain staff with sufficient talent and capabilities could lead to a loss of competitive advantage impacting financial performance;

13.  Failure to operate an effective fraud control environment may result in the loss of revenue and reputational damage;

14.  Crystallisation of potential tax exposures resulting from legacy corporate transactions, employee and sales taxes arising from periodic tax audits and investigations across various jurisdictions in which the Group operates may impact cash flows for the Group.

The directors have prepared the preliminary financial information on a going concern basis.  In considering the going concern basis, the directors have considered the above mentioned principal risks and uncertainties, especially in the context of a highly competitive consumer and retail environment as well as the wider macro-economic environment and how these factors might influence the Group's objectives and strategy.

The directors have reviewed the Group's future cash forecasts and profit projections, which are based on market data and past experience, including seasonal borrowing requirements and available facilities on a monthly basis. The directors are of the opinion that the Group's forecasts and projections, which take into account reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group is able to operate within its current facilities and comply with its banking covenants for the foreseeable future. In arriving at their conclusion that the Group has adequate financial resources, the directors were mindful of the level of borrowings and facilities and that the Group has a robust policy towards liquidity and cash flow management.

Accordingly the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future and consequently the directors continue to apply the going concern basis in the preparation of the financial statements.

.

Glossary and definitions

Alternative performance measures (APMs)

In the reporting of financial information, the Group uses certain measures that are not required under IFRS. We consider that these additional measures (commonly referred to as 'alternate performance measures') provide additional information on the performance of the business and trends to shareholders. These measures are consistent with those used internally, and are considered critical to understanding the financial performance and financial health of the Group. APMs are also used to enhance the comparability of information between reporting periods, by adjusting for non-recurring or items considered to be distortive on trading performance which may affect IFRS measures, to aid the user in understanding the Group's performance. These alternative performance measures may not be directly comparable with other similarly titled measures or 'adjusted' revenue or profit measures used by other companies, and are not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures.

Headline and non-headline measures

The Group's income statement and segmental analysis identify separately headline performance and non-headline items. Headline performance measures reflect adjustments to total performance measures. The directors consider 'headline' performance measures to be an informative additional measure of the ongoing trading performance of the Group. Headline results are stated before non-headline items.

Non-headlines items consist of the results of discontinued operations or exited / to be exited businesses, amortisation of acquisition intangibles, acquisition related costs, any exceptional items considered sufficiently material that they distort underlying performance (such as reorganisation costs, impairment charges, property rationalisation costs and other non-recurring charges), income from previously disposed operations and net pension interest costs.

Items excluded from headline results can evolve from one financial year to the next depending on the nature of exceptional items or one-off type activities. Where appropriate, for example where a business is classified as exited / to be exited, comparative information is restated accordingly.

Local currency

Some comparative performance measures are translated at constant exchange rates, called 'Local currency' measures. This restates the prior period results at a common exchange rate to the current year in order to provide appropriate year on year movement measures without the impact of foreign exchange movements.

In response to the Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures issues by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), we have provided additional information on the APMs used by the Group below.

Alternative performance
measure

Closest equivalent GAAP measure

Reconciliation to IFRS measure

Definition and purpose

Revenue measures

 

 

 

Headline / non-headline Revenue

Revenue

See note 3 and note 11 for details of restated amounts for 2016/17.

Headline revenues represent the ongoing revenues of the Group, and are adjusted to remove non-headline revenue items. In the current and restated comparative periods, this relates to the iD mobile operations in the Republic of Ireland, which is classified as a 'business to be exited' and therefore presented in non-headline results.

Like for Like (LFL) % change

No direct equivalent

Not applicable

Like-for-like revenue is calculated based on headline store and internet revenue using constant exchange rates. New stores are included where they have been open for a full financial year both at the beginning and end of the financial period. Revenue from franchise stores are excluded and closed stores are excluded for any period of closure during either period. Customer support agreement, insurance and wholesale revenues along with revenue from Connected World Services and other non-retail businesses are excluded from like-for-like calculations. We consider that LFL revenue represents a useful measure of the trading performance of our underlying and ongoing store and online portfolio.

Local currency % change

Revenue compared to prior period consolidated at a constant exchange rate.

Not applicable

Reflects total revenues on a constant currency and period basis. Provides a measure of performance excluding the impact of foreign exchange rate movements.

Profit measures

 

 

 

Headline / Non-headline profit/(loss) before tax, EBIT and profit/(loss) after tax

Profit/(loss) before interest and tax, profit/(loss) after interest and tax.

See Note 3 and note 11 for details of restated amounts for 2016/17.

As discussed above, the Group uses headline profit measures in order to provide a useful measure of the ongoing performance of the Group. These are adjusted from total measures to remove 'non-headline' items, the nature of which are disclosed above.

EBIT

Profit/(loss) before interest and tax

No reconciling items

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) is directly comparable to profit/(loss) before tax. The terminology used is consistent with that used historically and in external communications.

Other earnings measures

 

 

 

Headline / non-headline net finance costs

Net finance costs

See Note 3

Headline net finance costs are adjusted from total finance costs to remove non-headline finance cost items. Non-headline finance costs includes the finance charge of businesses to be exited, net pension interest costs, finance income from previously disposed operations not classified as discontinued, and other exceptional items considered so one-off and material that they distort underlying finance costs of the Group. Under IAS 19 'Employee Benefits', the net interest charge on defined benefit pension schemes is calculated based on corporate bond yield rates at a specific date, which, as can vary over time, creates volatility in the income statement and is unrepresentative of the actual investment gains or losses made on the liabilities. Therefore this item has been removed from our headline earnings measure in order to remove this non-cash volatility.

Headline / non-headline income tax expense / (credit)

Income tax expense / (credit)

See Note 3

Headline income tax expense / (credit) represents the income tax on headline earnings. Non-headline income tax expense / (credit) represents the tax on items classified as 'non-headline', either in the current year, or the current year effect of prior year tax adjustments on items previously classified as non-headline. We consider the headline income tax measures represent a useful measure of the ongoing tax charge / credit of the Group.

Headline / Total effective tax rate

No direct equivalent

 

The effective tax rate measures provide a useful indication of the tax rate of the Group. Headline effective tax is the rate of tax recognised on headline earnings, and total effective tax is the rate of tax recognised on total earnings.

Earnings per share measures

Headline basic EPS - continuing operations, headline diluted EPS - continuing operations, headline basic EPS - total, headline diluted EPS - total

Statutory EPS figures

Note 6

EPS measures are presented to reflect the impact of non-headline items in order to show a headline EPS figure, which reflects the headline earnings per share of the Group. We consider the headline EPS provides a useful measure of the ongoing earnings of the underlying Group.

Cash flow measures

 

 

 

Free Cash Flow

Cash generated from operations

See Note 8

Free Cash Flow comprises cash generated from / (utilised by) continuing operations before special pension contributions, less net finance expense, less income tax paid and less net capital expenditure. The directors consider that 'Free Cash Flow' provides additional useful information to shareholders in respect of cash generation and is consistent with how business performance is measured internally.

Net debt

Cash and cash equivalents less loans and other borrowings and finance lease obligations.

See Note 8

Comprises cash and cash equivalents and short term deposits, less borrowings and finance lease creditors. We consider that this provides a useful measure of the indebtedness of the Group.

Other measures

 

 

 

Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)

No direct equivalent

Not applicable

Calculated on a pre-tax and lease adjusted basis. The return is based on headline EBIT, adjusted to add back the interest component associated with capitalising operating lease costs. Capital employed is based on net assets including capitalised leases, but excluding goodwill, cash, tax and the defined benefit pension obligations. The calculation is performed on a moving annual total in order to best match the return on assets in a year with the assets in use during the year to generate the return. We consider this a useful measure to understand how the Group has used the capital employed during the period.

 

Pro forma results

In previous periods (up to the Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16), the Group presented 'pro forma' comparative financial information in order to reflect results of both Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail throughout the comparative periods as if the Merger on 6 August 2014 had occurred at the start of the 2013/14 financial year. In the current year, pro forma information is not presented as does not affect the comparative periods for the current year, other than in the five year summary. For information on the pro forma financial information and reconciliations please refer to the 2015/16 Annual Report.

 

Other definitions

The following definitions apply throughout this Annual Report and Accounts unless the context otherwise requires:

Acquisition intangibles

Acquired intangible assets such as customer bases, brands and other intangible assets acquired through a business combination capitalised separately from goodwill. Where businesses have grown organically rather than through acquisition, there is no amortisation of acquired intangibles and therefore the non-cash amortisation charge is removed from our headline earnings measures in order to increase comparability between segments.

ADRs

American Depositary Receipts

ARPU

Average revenue per user

B2B

Business to business

Best Buy

Best Buy Co., Inc. (incorporated in the United States)‌‌ and its subsidiaries and interests in joint ventures and associates

Best Buy Europe

Best Buy Europe Distributions Limited and its subsidiaries and interests in joint ventures and associates (incorporated in England & Wales)‌‌

Board

The Board of directors of the Company

Businesses to be exited

Businesses exited or to be exited are those which the Group has exited or committed to or commenced to exit through disposal or closure but do not meet the definition of discontinued operations as stipulated by IFRS and are material to the results or operations of the Group. Comparative results in the statement of comprehensive income and the notes are restated accordingly for the impact of businesses exited or to be exited.

Carphone, Carphone Warehouse or Carphone Group

The Company or Group prior to the Merger on 6 August 2014

CGU

Cash Generating Unit

Company or the Company

Dixons Carphone plc (incorporated in England & Wales under the Act, with registered number 07105905)‌‌, whose registered office is at 1 Portal Way, London W3 6RS

CPW

The continuing business of the Carphone Group

CPW Europe

Best Buy Europe's core continuing operations

CPW Europe Acquisition

The Company's acquisition of Best Buy's interest in CPW Europe, which completed on 26 June 2013

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

CWS

The Connected World Services division of the Company

Dixons or Dixons Retail

Dixons Retail plc and its subsidiary companies

Dixons Carphone or Group

The Company, its subsidiaries, interests in joint ventures and other investments

Dixons Retail Merger or Merger

The all share merger of Dixons Retail plc and Carphone Warehouse plc which occurred on 6 August 2014

EBT

Employee benefit trust

ESOT

Employee share ownership trust

HMRC

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs

honeybee

honeybee is our proprietary IT software, developed in-house initially to serve our mobile phone customers. It is a unique omni-channel, multi-industry software that simplifies the delivery and management of complex digital customer journeys.

IFRS

International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union

Market position

Ranking against competitors in the electrical and mobile retail market, measured by market share. Market share is measured for each of the Group's markets by comparing data for revenue or volume of units sold relative to similar metrics for competitors in the same market

MNO

Mobile network operator

MVNO

Mobile virtual network operator

New CPW

Dixons Carphone Holdings Limited, previously called New CPW Limited (incorporated in England & Wales)‌‌

NPS

Net promoter score, a rating used by the Group to measure customers' likelihood to recommend its operations

Old Carphone Warehouse

TalkTalk Telecom Holdings Limited (formerly 'The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC')‌‌ (incorporated in England & Wales)‌‌

 

RCF

Revolving credit facility

SIMO

Sales of SIM-only contracts, without attached handset

Sharesave or SAYE

Save as you earn share scheme

Sprint JV

The 50% investment held by the Group in Sprint Connect LLC, a distribution joint venture held with Sprint LLC in the USA

Special pension contributions

Represent contributions made under the schedule of contributions agreed with the scheme trustees following the 2016 triennial review.

SWAS

Stores-within-a-store

TalkTalk or TalkTalk Group

TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC and its subsidiaries and other investments

TSR

Total shareholder return

UK GAAP

United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law

Virgin Mobile France

Omer Telecom Limited (incorporated in England & Wales)‌‌ and its subsidiaries, operating an MVNO in France as a joint venture between the Company, Bluebottle UK Limited and Financom S.A.S.

WAEP

Weighted average exercise price

 

 

Responsibility Statement

 

The 2017/18 Annual Report and Accounts which will be issued in August 2018, contains a responsibility statement in compliance with DTR 4.1.12 of the Listing Rules which sets out that as at the date of approval of the Annual Report and Accounts on 20 June 2018, the directors confirm to the best of their knowledge:

•   the Group and unconsolidated Company financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group and Company, respectively; and

•   the performance review contained in the Annual Report and Accounts includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

At the date of this statement, the directors are those listed in the Group's 2016/17 Annual Report and Accounts with the exception of the following appointments and resignations:

Appointments

Resignations

Alex Baldock (appointed 3 April 2018)

Baroness Morgan of Huyton (resigned 7 September 2017)

Timothy How (resigned 7 September 2017)

Andrew Harrison (resigned 21 December 2017)

Sebastian James (resigned 2 April 2018)

Katie Bickerstaffe (resigned 28 April 2018)

 

The financial statements were approved by the directors on 20 June 2018 and signed on their behalf by:

 

 

Alex Baldock

Group Chief Executive

Humphrey Singer

Group Finance Director

 

Retail Store Data (unaudited)

Number of stores

 

 

28 April
 2018

29 April
 2017

 

Own

 stores

Franchise stores

Total

Own

 stores

Franchise stores

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK Dixons

322

-

322

330

-

330

UK Dixons Travel

28

-

28

25

-

25

Ireland Dixons

18

-

18

20

-

20

UK Carphone

662

-

662

687

-

687

Ireland Carphone

73

-

73

86

-

86

UK & Ireland

1,103

-

1,103

1,148

-

1,148

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norway

83

64

147

78

63

141

Sweden

111

55

166

111

51

162

Denmark

37

-

37

39

-

39

Finland

20

18

38

21

17

38

Other Nordics

-

13

13

-

13

13

Nordics

251

150

401

249

144

393

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greece

69

26

95

68

26

94

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

1,423

176

1,599

1,465

170

1,635

 

 

Selling space '000 sq ft

 

 

28 April
 2018

29 April
 2017

 

Own

 stores

Franchise stores

Total

Own

 stores

Franchise stores

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK Dixons

5,659

-

5,659

5,722

-

5,722

UK Dixons Travel

36

-

36

35

-

35

Ireland Dixons

206

-

206

227

-

227

UK Carphone

567

-

567

580

-

580

Ireland Carphone

43

-

43

46

-

46

UK & Ireland

6,511

-

6,511

6,610

-

6,610

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norway

1,145

607

1,752

1,198

602

1,800

Sweden

1,294

337

1,631

1,302

312

1,614

Denmark

653

-

653

681

-

681

Finland

536

153

689

540

142

682

Other Nordics

-

87

87

-

87

87

Nordics

3,628

1,184

4,812

3,721

1,143

4,864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greece

881

108

989

846

108

954

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

11,020

1,292

12,312

11,177

1,251

12,428

 

 


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