Preliminary Results 2013-14

RNS Number : 5744K

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC

26 June 2014

 



 

 

Thursday 26 June 2014

Embargoed until 7h00

Carphone Warehouse Group plc

(the "Company", "Carphone Warehouse" or the "Group")

Preliminary results for the year ended 29 March 2014

Strong performance; CPW pro forma Headline EBIT up 14%;

Full year dividend up 20%; Positive outlook.

CPW

·     Pro forma Headline EBIT of £151m (2013: £132m), in line with guidance range of £145m - £155m

·     Full year like-for-like revenue growth of 5.3% (2013: 4.6%)

·     Acquired Best Buy's 50% share in CPW Europe in June 2013

·     Store-in-store partnerships with Media-Markt Saturn in the Netherlands and Harvey Norman in Ireland

·     Connected World Services progressing well:

·    preferred-partnership agreement to run Samsung Experience Stores across Europe

·    developed honeyBee platform with Accenture

Virgin Mobile France

·     Exclusivity agreement for the sale of Virgin Mobile France to Numericable Group

Group

·     Headline PAT £102m (2013: £55m)

·     Statutory PAT of £48m (2013: £4m)

·     Headline EPS of 18.4p (2013: 11.6p), in line with guidance range of 17.0p to 20.0p

·     Statutory EPS of 8.6p (2013: 0.9p)

·     Recommended final dividend 4.00p per share, bringing full year dividend to 6.00p per share, 20% up on the prior year (2013: 5.00p per share)

A reconciliation between Headline results and statutory results and between pro forma results and Headline results is provided in note 6 to the financial review.

Recommended all share merger with Dixons Retail plc

·     The Board announced on 15 May 2014 that it had reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share merger of Carphone Warehouse Group plc and Dixons Retail plc

·     The Company's prospectus and shareholder circular are expected to be published later today

·     The proposed merger is progressing in line with the anticipated timetable and has already been cleared by the European Commission

Andrew Harrison, CEO, said: 

"Carphone Warehouse has had a strong year. We have delivered on our guidance, increasing pro forma Headline EBIT by 14% from £132m to £151m. Strategically and operationally, we have moved our business forward significantly, showing further progress on 4G, developing our award-winning tablet-based assisted sales tool, Pin Point, growing our Connected World Services business, and taking steps to realise value through the proposed sale of Virgin Mobile France.

"4G is now a major new dynamic in the mobile marketplace. The speed, range of new devices, increased data usage and new 4G tariffs have all increased our appeal to customers, building on our long-standing reputation for impartial advice and value. Operationally we have taken further steps forward in delivering record levels of customer satisfaction through the hard work of our people and through introducing Pin Point.

"Our European partnerships are helping us to gain scale and grow value within our existing markets, having signed two agreements during the year.

"We have also made some key strategic developments in our Connected World Services business, including our preferred-partner agreement with Samsung to roll out and manage their stores across Europe.

"For some while, we have signalled that Virgin Mobile France could be for sale and, in May this year, together with our fellow shareholders, we announced an exclusivity agreement for its proposed sale to Numericable Group.

"The history of Carphone Warehouse has been one of anticipating change and positioning the business to take advantage of this change. Looking ahead, the shifts we see in the marketplace offer considerable opportunities to create value for our employees, our customers, our suppliers, our partners and our shareholders. From a position of strength, we are planning to take greater advantage of these developments through our proposed merger with Dixons Retail plc."

CPW

We completed our buy-back of Best Buy's 50% share in CPW Europe on 26 June 2013. Consequently, in order to give a more meaningful picture of our performance, we have provided the results for CPW on a pro forma basis, as if CPW Europe had been 100% owned by the Group for the whole of 2013-14 and the previous year.

Our retail operation enjoyed a good year with like-for-like revenue growth of 5.3%, despite the continued sharp reduction in the prepay market. While the fall in prepay connections reduced overall connections, both for us and for the market in general, we held our prepay market share. More important for CPW has been the strength of our postpay sales, on which we have again grown our UK market share. We have been particularly encouraged by the uptake of 4G phones. The speed of 4G has a significant impact on data usage, and the sale of 4G devices typically brings with it additional data packages, the result of which is an overall increase in the average revenue per user and therefore the revenues we earn.

During the last year we invested significantly in our brand and in our distribution channels. We introduced a new tablet-based assisted sales tool called Pin Point. This gives our customers a personalised experience, guiding them through the overwhelming variety of devices, networks, tariffs and services, to find the most suitable package to meet their needs. Pin Point has been rolled out throughout our stores in the UK and has resulted in our highest levels of customer satisfaction and customers' willingness to recommend us to others. Pin Point was acknowledged through the BT Retail Week Technology Awards, for the Customer Experience Technology Award of the year for 2014.

Our growth last year was the result of good performances in countries such as the UK, Spain and Ireland balanced by challenges in some of our other Mainland European markets. In the Netherlands, we experienced a weaker consumer market. In Germany, our performance was affected by challenges in the wholesale market. However, we are encouraged by our other business ventures in both of these markets, such as partnership opportunities in the Netherlands and our growing connections services business in Germany.

European partnerships

In the Netherlands we are on track to complete the roll-out of our store-in-store format across the Media-Markt Saturn estate by the end of September 2014.

In Ireland, we completed the roll-out of stores within all 12 Harvey Norman stores.

In Germany we have made good progress developing our relationship with the Metro Group and continue to work with them on a more tailored B2B offering.

Discussions continue with Media-Markt Saturn and with other partners across targeted territories and we believe that these partnerships offer a mutually beneficial way of expanding the sales of connected products and services.

Connected World Services

Connected World Services is our growing B2B business, which aims to leverage our core expertise and systems to provide a range of services to third parties. It was established around 18 months ago and has made significant progress during the year. In partnership with Accenture, we have developed our omni-channel platform called honeyBee. We have been highly encouraged by the initial response from manufacturers, networks and retailers across the globe to the wide range of expertise and services that CPW can provide. We concluded a preferred-partner agreement to operate Samsung Experience Stores in Europe, and we have now opened 33 Samsung stores in seven countries.

Over time, we see Connected World Services as a means to take Carphone Warehouse global, in a low-risk way, with limited demands on capital expenditure whilst leveraging our knowledge and expertise.

Virgin Mobile France

In a very tough French marketplace, Virgin Mobile France delivered a resilient performance, substantially maintaining its contract customer base and continuing to migrate this base onto its Full MVNO platform. This reflects extremely well on the quality and commitment of our French management team.

It was clear to us, however, that Virgin Mobile France's future would be best served by being part of a larger organisation. Subsequent to the year end, we and our joint venture partner, Virgin Group, together with management shareholders, announced an exclusivity agreement for the sale of Virgin Mobile France to Numericable Group.

Outlook

We have worked hard over the past year, focusing on our customer proposition, improving our operational excellence, driving 4G penetration, forging new partnerships in Europe with leading retailers and developing our Connected World Services business. This provides significant potential for growth over the future years and as such our outlook remains positive.

Investor and analysts' webcast

There will be a conference call for investors and analysts at 9.00 am this morning. The presentation slides will be available via webcast (listen only) on our corporate website, www.cpwplc.com.

Dial-in details:

UK/International: [phone]

USA: [phone]

Passcode: 8662532

7 day replay:

UK/International: [phone]

USA: + 1 347 366 9565

Passcode: 8662532

 

Next announcement

 

The Carphone Warehouse Group plc annual general meeting will be held on 23 July 2014.

 

For further information

For analyst and institutional enquiries                 

Kate Ferry, IR Director                                    [phone]

Kerry Becker, IR Manager                              [phone]

For media enquiries

Anthony Carlisle (Citigate Dewe Rogerson)   [phone] / [phone]

Elizabeth Holloway, Head of PR, CPW          [phone] / [phone]

Performance review

This performance review covers:

CPW: the Group's wholly owned businesses including, since 26 June 2013, CPW Europe which prior to this date had been a 50% joint venture. CPW revenue and results are shown on a pro forma basis, as though CPW Europe had been 100% owned by the Group throughout the current and prior periods, to enable year-on-year comparison.

Virgin Mobile France: the Group's 46% interest in a joint venture with Virgin Group, which is now classified as a discontinued operation.

Group results: covering the Headline and statutory performance of the Group as a whole, reflecting the

CPW Europe Acquisition as it is reported in the Group's income statement and other financials.

CPW

Headline income statement (pro forma basis) *

2014 2013 £m £m Revenue 3,282 3,348 Gross margin 837 835 GM % 25.5% 24.9% Operating expenses (636) (627) EBITDA** 201 208 Depreciation and amortisation (50) (76) EBIT 151 132 EBIT % 4.6% 3.9% Interest (18) (7) PBT 133 125 Tax (30) (26) PAT 103 99

*  Prior year Headline results have been restated to exclude the results of the Group's French retail business following the decision to exit this market. This business generated revenues of £357m and EBIT of £8m in the prior year. Current year losses associated with the French business during the exit programme, details of which are provided within Group results below, are similarly excluded from Headline results and KPIs. For further details see note 3 to the financial review.

**             Pro forma Headline EBITDA includes the unwinding of discounts for the time value of money on network commissions receivable over the life of the customer. This unwind had a value of £9m in the year (2013: £9m) and is treated as interest income in the Group's non-pro forma Headline and statutory results. A reconciliation of pro forma results to Headline results is provided in note 6 to the financial review.

CPW generated revenues of £3,282m, a decrease of 2.0% year-on-year (2013: £3,348m), principally due to reduced revenues in our dealer business, which operates at very low margins and therefore has a limited impact on overall profitability. These reductions were partially offset by strong like-for-like revenue growth in our retail and online channels and a strengthening of the Euro year-on-year.

Full year like-for-like revenue growth was 5.3%, a second consecutive year of strong momentum, again driven by postpay growth in our UK business, which continued to deliver year-on-year market share gains in this category.

We were encouraged by customer take-up of 4G services as network infrastructure was rolled out more widely across the UK market during the year. The significantly improved network quality and download speeds have encouraged customers to take richer data packages, which in turn drive increases in monthly line rental. Our executional focus remains strong, with our tablet-based sales tool, Pin Point, continuing to drive customer satisfaction and conversion, to the benefit of customers, network operators and ourselves.

Outside the UK, the business has made good progress on improving its critical mass through partnerships and we continue to focus on exporting the UK business' proven operational excellence. In the Netherlands, a weakened consumer environment caused some year-on-year deterioration in performance, but we have made excellent progress on our partnership with Media-Markt Saturn and expect the roll-out of our proposition across their estate to be completed by the middle of the forthcoming financial year. We have also made good progress with the Metro Group in Germany, with trials launching early in the coming year, and while performance was affected by challenges in the German wholesale market, our connections services business performed very strongly. Elsewhere, we saw a resilient performance in Spain, despite the challenging market and consumer backdrop, and a strong performance from our Irish business, which launched a highly successful partnership with Harvey Norman during the year.

We have made good progress with Connected World Services, continuing to focus on building a pipeline for future growth, and launched our preferred supplier partnership with Samsung, through which we have now opened 33 Samsung Experience Stores in seven countries.

The declines experienced in the prepay market in recent years continued, reflecting reduced subsidies from network operators following regulatory cuts in mobile termination rates and roaming charges, in addition to the migration of prepay customers to postpay.

As a result of continued weakness in the prepay segment, although we held our market share, connection volumes dropped year-on-year by 6.4% from 8.9m to 8.4m.

CPW opened or re-sited 94 stores during the year and closed 130 stores, ending the year with 2,024 stores, of which 292 were franchise stores, up from 268 at March 2013 (all excluding France). The increase in franchise stores primarily reflects growth in Spain, where we have focused on using the successful franchise model to maintain scale without the fixed costs of leasing our own stores. The decrease in our own stores also reflects net closures in Germany and Portugal.

CPW's overall gross margin increased year-on-year to £837m (2013: £835m) while CPW's gross margin percentage increased by 60 basis points year-on-year to 25.5% (2013: 24.9%), largely reflecting a lower proportion of low margin dealer revenues. Gross margins on the core business declined marginally, principally reflecting a higher year-on-year weighting towards high-end handsets, which have a lower gross margin percentage than other categories, in the first half of the year. Average cash gross margins on our core categories were slightly improved year-on-year, in part reflecting the effects of higher value 4G customers, together with the continued benefit of incremental revenues beyond the minimum contract period.

Operating expenses increased by 1.4% to £636m (2013: £627m). Savings from reduced numbers of our own stores, last year's reorganisation programme and the unwinding of acquisition lease liabilities were more than offset by investment in the retail sales journey, partnerships and Connected World Services.

Depreciation and amortisation decreased to £50m (2013: £76m). This reduction reflects the full year effect of outsourcing contracts, through which responsibility for capital investment has transferred to third parties, as noted last year. Depreciation and amortisation have also been affected, in line with expectations, by the acquisition accounting exercise, which resulted in the revaluation of CPW Europe's non-current assets to fair value. As a result of this, and as previously noted, the ongoing depreciation and amortisation charge is closer to our anticipated ongoing level of capex in the core business, before investment in Connected World Services and partnerships.

CPW's pro forma Headline EBIT increased from £132m to £151m, reflecting the factors noted above.

The interest charge for the year was £18m (2013: £7m), reflecting additional borrowing costs following the CPW Europe Acquisition.

CPW had an effective tax rate of 22% on Headline earnings (2013: 21%).

Operating cash flow (pro forma basis)

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Headline EBITDA *		201	208
Working capital		(63)	89
Capex		(65)	(61)
Operating free cash flow		73	236

* Headline EBITDA is presented on a pro forma basis for consistency with earnings analysis.

Headline EBITDA decreased year-on-year to £201m (2013: £208m), primarily reflecting the incremental investment in operating expenses noted above.

As anticipated, the business saw some working capital absorption during the year, reflecting growth in our postpay volumes, together with an increase in average revenues as 4G connections became a more significant proportion of sales during the year. The business recorded a working capital outflow of £63m, compared to an inflow in the year to March 2013 of £89m.

Capex spend increased to £65m (2013: £61m), driven principally by the IT investment in our honeyBee platform, which will support the continued development of both our retail and Connected World Services businesses.

Virgin Mobile France

Headline income statement (100% basis) *

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Revenue		346	385
EBITDA		13	20
Depreciation and amortisation		(10)	(8)
EBIT		3	12
EBIT %		0.7%	3.1%
Interest		(1)	(1)
PBT		2	11
Tax		(1)	(4)
PAT		1	7
Group share		-	3

* See note 8 to the financial review.

As announced in May 2014, we, alongside our fellow shareholders, have entered into an exclusivity agreement for the sale of Virgin Mobile France to Numericable Group for an enterprise value of €325m. During the exclusivity period, the parties have carried out the necessary consultations with employee work councils; the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. In light of the disposal process, the business is now reported as a discontinued operation in the income statement and has been recorded as an asset held for sale in the balance sheet at 29 March 2014.

Virgin Mobile France revenue fell by 10.2% year-on-year on an actual currency basis to £346m (2013: £385m) reflecting a decline of 13.1% at constant currency, partly offset by a strengthening of the Euro year-on-year. The reduction was broadly in line with expectations and reflects market re-pricing in the past two years, driven by intense market competition, which has caused downward pressure on outbound ARPU.

The total customer base was down year-on-year at 1.67m customers (2013: 1.71m) with a 2.4% reduction in the postpay base to 1.32m (2013: 1.35m) and a 3.0% reduction in the prepay base to 0.35m (2013: 0.36m). The business continues to perform creditably despite intense market competition, maintaining its focus on innovative propositions and high quality customer service to provide differentiation.

We have seen further good progress on migrating the base to a Full MVNO infrastructure, which enables the business to participate more fully in customer revenue streams, including termination revenues, and to reduce its operating costs. At the end of March, 77% of the customer base was on this platform, and substantially more of the base by value.

Reduced revenue, together with competitive pressure on margins, resulted in a reduction in EBITDA to £13m (2013: £20m), while increased depreciation and amortisation of £10m (2013: £8m) reflects investment in the Full MVNO infrastructure.

Interest was flat year-on-year at £1m (2013: £1m) and the tax charge decreased to £1m (2013: £4m), reflecting the lower level of pre-tax earnings described above.

Cash flow (100% basis)

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
EBITDA		13	20
Working capital		(9)	4
Capex		(12)	(19)
Operating free cash flow		(8)	5
Other		(2)	(5)
Movement in net debt		(10)	-
Opening net debt		(40)	(40)
Closing net debt *		(50)	(40)

* Comprises shareholder loans of £37m (2013: £42m), third party financing of £15m (2013: nil) and net cash of £2m (2013: £2m).

EBITDA decreased from £20m to £13m for the reasons described above. As anticipated, after substantial working capital inflows over the previous five years, the business recorded a working capital outflow, of £9m (2013: inflow of £4m).

Capex decreased year-on-year to £12m (2013: £19m) with the prior year spend including investment in the Full MVNO deferred from the previous year.

Other cash flows reflect interest and tax payments and the impact of foreign exchange.

Group results

Headline income statement

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
EBIT
- Wholly owned operations		133	3
- Joint ventures		3	51
Interest		(9)	2
PBT		127	56
Tax		(25)	(1)
PAT		102	55
EPS (basic)		18.4p	11.6p

EBIT for wholly owned operations includes CPW Europe from 26 June 2013. In the period from 1 April 2013 to 26 June 2013, CPW Europe registered a post-tax profit of £5m, of which the Group's share was £3m, which is included in results from joint ventures. The Group's share of post-tax results from joint ventures was £51m for the year to March 2013.

Net interest expense of £9m (2013: income of £2m) reflects additional borrowings following the CPW Europe Acquisition, with net income in the prior year principally reflecting interest on loans to Virgin Mobile France.

A tax charge of £25m arose in the year (2013: £1m) increasing in line with pre-tax profitability from wholly owned operations.

Improved underlying earnings in CPW, together with the benefits of consolidating 100% of CPW Europe from 26 June 2013, resulted in an increase in Group Headline profit after tax from £55m to £102m. This in turn resulted in an increase in Headline EPS to 18.4p (2013: 11.6p) for the year.

Since Virgin Mobile France is now treated as a discontinued operation, the Group's share of its prior year post-tax profits are shown separately in the income statement. The Group's share of its post-tax profits in the current year is nil. Profit after tax for continuing operations is therefore £102m (2013: £52m) and EPS on the same basis is 18.4p (2013: 10.9p).

Non-Headline items

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Headline PAT		102	55
France (in process of closure)		(29)	(45)
CPW Europe Acquisition		(12)	-
CPW Europe reorganisation		-	(5)
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles		(13)	(1)
Statutory PAT		48	4
Statutory EPS (basic)		8.6p	0.9p

Non-Headline items in the current year comprise losses associated with our French retail business during our exit from that market, items associated with the CPW Europe Acquisition, and the amortisation of acquisition intangibles.

The exit process from the French retail market is now substantially complete. The large majority of our own store leases have been transferred to third parties and all of our franchise contracts have been terminated. We have made every effort to minimise redundancies and have been able to transfer the majority of our employees to third parties.

The non-Headline results of France include the Group's post-tax share of operating losses, asset write-downs and provisions for closure costs, recorded prior to the CPW Europe Acquisition, totalling £23m. Since the CPW Europe Acquisition, the French business incurred further EBIT losses of £6m.

Non-Headline items also include net costs of £15m in relation to the CPW Europe Acquisition, against which a tax credit of £3m has been recognised. These costs represent banking and professional fees on the transaction and cash and non-cash charges associated with employee incentive schemes. This was partially offset by gains on the revaluation of CPW Europe and on the disposal of the consideration shares issued to Best Buy in relation to the CPW Europe Acquisition.

The Group's results also include an amortisation charge of £16m, against which a tax credit of £3m has been recognised, on acquisition intangibles arising on the CPW Europe Acquisition.

Statutory profit after tax, including non-Headline items, was £48m (2013: £4m) and EPS on the same basis increased from 0.9p to 8.6p.

Movements on net funds (debt) *

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Operating free cash flow		73	236
CPW Europe Acquisition		(361)	-
Net proceeds on shares		126	-
Distributions to shareholders		(30)	(56)
Other		(54)	(15)
Movement in net (debt) funds		(246)	165
Opening net (debt) funds		238	73
Closing net (debt ) funds		(8)	238

* This summary aggregates the net funds (debt) of the Group and CPW Europe at the start of each year, to enable a complete understanding of cash flows.

The operating free cash inflow was £73m (2013: £236m) for the reasons described earlier.

Cash outflows relating to the CPW Europe Acquisition were £361m, comprising net upfront cash consideration of £341m, cash costs of incentive schemes of £8m, and banking and professional fees of £12m.

Net proceeds on shares comprise £103m raised through the placing in April 2013 of 47m shares at a price of £2.22 per share and £23m received in July 2013 on the disposal of the consideration shares issued to Best Buy in respect of the CPW Europe Acquisition.

Distributions to shareholders of £30m (2013: £56m) represent ordinary dividends, together with £33m in the prior year returned to shareholders through the deferred capital option of the B/C Share Scheme following the disposal of Best Buy Mobile in January 2012.

Other cash flows include operating losses and other cash exit costs of £29m in relation to our French business. Further cash costs in the region of £15m, which have been provided in full at March 2014, are anticipated in the coming year, principally in relation to final redundancy payments and lease exit costs. Within our previous expectations of net cash exit costs, we had anticipated the disposal of our French insurance business. However, it has become apparent that our expertise in this area represents an opportunity to develop a new Connected World Services business in France, focusing initially on insurance, as we did in Belgium. Since the year end, we have put in place a team to develop this business, which has already secured two third party clients and is actively engaged in tenders for other business. While the value of the run-off base, in the absence of the retail infrastructure to support it, is clearly uncertain, we will aim to use it to grow the Connected World Services business as part of continuing operations going forward.

Other cash flows also include proceeds on the disposal of CPW Europe's fixed line operations in Switzerland and the disposal of the Group's remaining freehold in Acton, both of which completed in April, offset by working capital movements in France, tax and interest payments, and the purchase of the Group's own shares.

Other cash flows in the prior period reflect exceptional cash costs associated with Best Buy UK, offset by EBITDA from the French business, and other cash flows reported by the wholly owned Group in that period.

Dividends

We are proposing a final dividend of 4.00p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 6.00p per share, a 20% increase on the previous year (2013: 5.00p). The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the Company's forthcoming annual general meeting. The ex-dividend date is 9 July 2014, with a record date of 11 July 2014 and an intended payment date of 1 August 2014.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Condensed consolidated income statement for the years ended 29 March 2014 and 31 March 2013

							Restated*	Restated*		Restated*
			Headline		Non-Headline*	Statutory	Headline	Non-Headline*		Statutory
			2014		2014	2014	2013	2013		2013
	Notes		£m		£m	£m	£m	£m		£m
Revenue	2,3		2,505		71	2,576	11	-		11
Cost of sales	3		(1,864)		(48)	(1,912)	-	-		-
Gross profit			641		23	664	11	-		11
Operating expenses	3		(508)		(60)	(568)	(8)	-		(8)
Profit (loss) from operations before share of results of joint ventures			133		(37)	96	3	-		3
Share of results of joint ventures	2,3,8		3		(23)	(20)	48	(50)		(2)
Profit (loss) before interest and taxation			136		(60)	76	51	(50)		1
Interest income			8		-	8	2	-		2
Interest expense			(17)		-	(17)	-	-		-
Profit (loss) before taxation			127		(60)	67	53	(50)		3
Taxation			(25)		6	(19)	(1)	-		(1)
Profit (loss) from continuing operations			102		(54)	48	52	(50)		2
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations	8		-		-	-	3	(1)		2
Net profit (loss) for the year			102		(54)	48	55	(51)		4
Earnings per share
Basic
Continuing operations	7		18.4p			8.6p	10.9p			0.3p
Discontinued operations	7		0.0p			0.0p	0.7p		0.6p
Total	7		18.4p			8.6p	11.6p		0.9p
Diluted
Continuing operations	7		18.1p			8.5p	10.8p			0.3p
Discontinued operations	7		0.0p			0.0p	0.7p		0.6p
Total	7		18.1p			8.5p	11.5p		0.9p
* Non-Headline items comprise exceptional items, amortisation of acquisition intangibles and the results of the Group's retail operations in France, which are in the process of closure (see note 3). Prior year comparatives have been restated to classify the results of the French business as non-Headline and to classify the results of Virgin Mobile France as discontinued operations. A reconciliation of Headline results to statutory results is provided in note 6.

Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the years ended 29 March 2014 and 31 March 2013

			2014	2013
			£m	£m
Net profit for the year			48	4
Items that may be subsequently reclassified to profit and loss:
Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations			(8)	2
Other foreign exchange differences			(3)	-
Movements in relation to interest rate hedges			2	-
Total recognised income and expenses for the year			39	6

Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity

For the year ended 29 March 2014

	Share capital	Share premium reserve	Accumulated profits	Translation reserve	Demerger reserve	Capital redemption reserve	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At the beginning of the year	1	170	1,238	2	(750)	-	661
Net profit for the year	-	-	48	-	-	-	48
Other comprehensive income (expense)	-	-	2	(11)	-	-	(9)
Issue of shares	-	113	103	-	-	-	216
Net purchase of own shares	-	-	(12)	-	-	-	(12)
Equity dividends	-	-	(30)	-	-	-	(30)
Tax on items recognised directly through reserves	-	-	6	-	-	-	6
At the end of the year	1	283	1,355	(9)	(750)	-	880

For the year ended 31 March 2013

	Share capital	Share premium reserve	Accumulated profits	Translation reserve	Demerger reserve	Capital redemption reserve	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At the beginning of the year	34	170	697	-	(750)	557	708
Net profit for the year	-	-	4	-	-	-	4
Other comprehensive income	-	-	-	2	-	-	2
Redemption of shares	(33)	-	(33)	-	-	33	(33)
Equity dividends	-	-	(23)	-	-	-	(23)
Capital reduction	-	-	590	-	-	(590)	-
Share of other reserve movements of joint ventures	-	-	3	-	-	-	3
At the end of the year	1	170	1,238	2	(750)	-	661

Condensed consolidated balance sheet as at 29 March 2014 and 31 March 2013

			2014	2013
		Notes	£m	£m
Non-current assets
Goodwill			481	-
Intangible assets			136	-
Property, plant and equipment			90	27
Trade and other receivables			191	-
Interest in joint ventures		8	-	537
Deferred tax assets			54	1
			952	565
Current assets
Stock			240	-
Trade and other receivables			821	3
Assets held for sale		8	11	-
Cash and cash equivalents			283	117
			1,355	120
Total assets			2,307	685
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables			(869)	(17)
Deferred consideration			(25)	-
Provisions			(50)	(7)
Corporation tax liabilities			(36)	-
Finance lease obligations			(1)	-
			(981)	(24)
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables			(113)	-
Deferred consideration			(25)	-
Deferred tax liabilities			(18)	-
Loans and other borrowings			(290)	-
			(446)	-
Total liabilities			(1,427)	(24)
Net assets			880	661
Equity
Share capital			1	1
Share premium reserve			283	170
Accumulated profits			1,355	1,238
Translation reserve			(9)	2
Demerger reserve			(750)	(750)
Funds attributable to equity shareholders			880	661

Condensed consolidated cash flow statement for the years ended 29 March 2014 and 31 March 2013

			2014	Restated 2013
			£m	£m
Operating activities
Profit before interest and taxation			76	1
Adjustments for non-cash items:
Share-based payments			4	-
Non-cash movements on joint ventures			19	2
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment			18	1
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles			16	-
Amortisation of other intangibles			16	-
Impairment of property, plant and equipment			-	1
Profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment			-	(3)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital			149	2
Decrease in trade and other receivables			107	19
Decrease in stock			97	-
Increase in trade and other payables			125	7
Decrease in provisions			(20)	(3)
Cash flows from operating activities			458	25
Taxation paid			(16)	(1)
Net cash flows from operating activities			442	24
Investing activities
Interest received			2	2
Net cash outflow arising from CPW Europe Acquisition			(317)	-
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment			10	40
Proceeds on sale of current investments			5	-
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment			(18)	-
Acquisition of intangible assets			(42)	-
Net receipts from joint ventures			2	4
Cash flows from investing activities			(358)	46
Financing activities
Settlement of financial instruments			3	-
Interest paid			(14)	-
Repayment of obligations under finance leases			(2)	-
Net purchase of own shares			(12)	-
Equity dividends paid			(30)	(23)
Net drawdown of borrowings			19	-
Facility arrangement fees paid			(6)	-
Issue of shares			124	-
Shares redeemed			-	(33)
Cash flows from financing activities			82	(56)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents			166	14
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year			117	103
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year			283	117

1 Basis of preparation and accounting policies

Directors' responsibilities

The directors of Carphone Warehouse Group plc are responsible, in accordance with the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, for preparing and issuing this preliminary announcement, which was approved on 25 June 2014.

Basis of preparation

This financial information does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for the year ended 29 March 2014 and year ended 31 March 2013, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 have been delivered to the registrar of companies and those for the year ended 29 March 2014 will be delivered in due course. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain statements under s498(2) or (3) Companies Act 2006.

This financial information included in this preliminary announcement does not contain sufficient information to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). However it has been prepared using accounting policies and methods of computation consistent with IFRS as adopted for use in the EU and specifically those set out on pages 54 to 59 of the Carphone Warehouse Group plc annual report for the year ended 31 March 2013. The definitions used within this financial review are consistent with those that are set out on page 85 of the same document. In addition, the following definitions are applicable to this financial review:

Carphone	The Company
Carphone Group	The Company, its subsidiaries, interests in joint ventures and other investments
CPW	The continuing business of the Carphone Group, excluding its interest in Virgin Mobile France
Merger	The proposed merger of Dixons Retail plc and Carphone
Pro forma	Results aggregating CPW Europe and the Group's wholly-owned businesses, as though CPW Europe had been 100% owned by the Group in the relevant period

The financial information reflects the Group's results for the period from 1 April 2013 to 29 March 2014 ("the year").

Going concern

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. This review considered the implications of the CPW Europe Acquisition during the year, including the effect on forecast cash flows and changes to the Group's financing facilities. 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 that the Group has a robust policy towards liquidity and cash flow management and that it is financed through facilities, excluding overdrafts repayable on demand, totalling a maximum of £650m (of which £360m was undrawn at 29 March 2014) committed to April 2017. The Group's operations are financed by these committed facilities, retained profits and equity.

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.

2 Operating Segments

a)      Basis for segmentation

IFRS 8 'Operating Segments' requires that operating segments mirror the segments that are routinely reviewed by the Board, and which are used to manage performance and to allocate resources. 

Following the acquisition of CPW Europe, the Group's wholly owned operations consist of two segments, being the UK and Ireland and Mainland Europe (comprising operations in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). This classification is consistent with the management structure of the Group, and the way in which information is reported to the Board. Connected World Services, our B2B business, is not considered to be a separate segment since its operations are currently integrated with those of our retail business in each market, and are therefore not separable. Virgin Mobile France has previously been reported separately as it has a distinct and separate management team and discrete financial information. In light of the Group's intention to sell this business, Virgin Mobile France is now reported as a discontinued operation and its results are therefore excluded from the segmental results analysis below. Details of its profits and losses are provided in note 8.

b)      Segmental results

Segmental results for continuing operations are analysed as follows:

	CPW		Joint ventures (see note 8)
	UK and Ireland	Mainland Europe	CPW Europe (to 26 June 2013)	Virgin Mobile France	Unallocated*	Total
2014	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Headline revenue**	1,470	1,035	-	-	-	2,505
Headline EBIT before share of results of joint ventures	126	7	-	-	-	133
Share of Headline results of joint ventures (post-tax)	-	-	3	-	-	3
Headline EBIT	126	7	3	-	-	136
Exceptional items***	(11)	(4)	-	-	-	(15)
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles***	(10)	(6)	-	-	-	(16)
French operations (in process of closure)***	-	(6)	(23)	-	-	(29)
Statutory EBIT (segment results)	105	(9)	(20)	-	-	76
Assets	1,841	455	-	11	-	2,307
Liabilities	(828)	(309)	-	-	(290)	(1,427)
Net assets	1,013	146	-	11	(290)	880
Capital expenditure	60	8	-	-	-	68

* Unallocated liabilities reflect the loans and other borrowings of the Group.

** Non-Headline revenue of £71m (2013: nil) relates to operations in France.

*** See note 3 for further details.

								CPW		Joint ventures (see note 8)
							UK and Ireland		CPW  Europe			Virgin Mobile France				Total
2013 (restated)							£m		£m			£m				£m
Revenue							11		-			-				11
Headline EBIT before share of results of joint ventures							3		-			-				3
Share of Headline results of joint ventures (post-tax)							-		48			-				48
Headline EBIT							3		48			-				51
Share of joint venture exceptional items (post-tax)*							-		(5)			-				(5)
French operations (in process of closure)*							-		(45)			-				(45)
Statutory EBIT (segment results)								3	(2)			-				1

Assets					148		524	13	685
Liabilities					(24)		-	-	(24)
Net assets					124		524	13	661
Capital expenditure						-	-	-	-

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 * See note 3 for further details.

3 Non-Headline items

Non-Headline items comprise:

i)              French operations

The results, including closure provisions, of the Group's French retail business, which is in the process of closure.

ii)             CPW Europe Acquisition

Exceptional items associated with the transaction.

iii)            CPW Europe Reorganisation

Exceptional items incurred in the prior year in relation to restructuring activity within CPW Europe.

iv)            Amortisation of acquisition intangibles

Amortisation of acquisition intangibles, relating principally to the CPW Europe Acquisition.

The items noted above have affected the results of both the wholly owned Group and the Group's joint ventures and are analysed as follows:

					2014	Restated 2013
			Notes		£m	£m
Continuing operations
Revenue:
French operations			i)		71	-
Cost of sales:
French operations			i)		(48)	-
Operating expenses:
French operations			i)		(29)	-
CPW Europe Acquisition			ii)		(15)	-
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles			iv)		(16)	-
					(60)	-
Share of results of joint ventures (post-tax):
French operations			i)		(23)	(45)
CPW Europe Reorganisation			iii)		-	(5)
					(23)	(50)
Taxation:
CPW Europe Acquisition			ii)		3	-
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles			iv)		3	-
					6	-
Loss for the year from continuing operations					(54)	(50)
Discontinued operations: Amortisation of joint venture acquisition intangibles					-	(1)
Loss for the year					(54)	(51)

i) French operations

In light of an increasingly challenging market context, CPW Europe commenced an exit from the French retail market in April 2013. The exit costs and results of this business during this process have been excluded from Headline earnings, with comparatives restated on the same basis.

During the year ended 31 March 2013, a pre-tax charge of £7m was booked in relation to redundancies, lease exit costs and other cash restructuring costs relating to approximately 75 stores which the business had committed to exit at the year end. In addition, the goodwill associated with the French business was written off during the same period, alongside various other non-current assets in the business. Together with asset write-downs associated with store closures that were committed during the year, total non-cash asset write-downs of £94m were booked in the year. A tax credit of £5m was booked against these charges, principally reflecting the de-recognition of deferred tax liabilities.

CPW Europe's French operations recorded an EBIT of £8m in the year ended 31 March 2013, against which a tax charge of £1m was recognised.

The Group's post-tax share of these restructuring costs, asset write-downs and operating results was £45m.

In the year ended 29 March 2014, prior to the CPW Europe Acquisition and in light of the commitment to exit the business, CPW Europe recorded further non-cash asset write-downs of £8m, and provided £32m for estimated future exit costs, principally covering redundancies and lease exit costs. Operating losses of £10m were incurred prior to the CPW Europe Acquisition, resulting from the challenging environment that prompted the decision to exit the French market, together with the effects of the announcement of this decision. A tax credit of £3m was recognised against these items. The Group's post-tax share of these restructuring costs, asset write-downs and operating results was £23m.

Since the CPW Europe Acquisition, the French business incurred further EBIT losses of £6m, representing gross margin of £23m and operating expenses of £29m.

Following our initial decision to exit the French retail market, it has become apparent that there is an opportunity to develop a new Connected World Services business in France, focusing initially on leveraging our French insurance business, as we did following our exit from retail operations in Belgium. Since the year end, we have put in place a team to develop this business, which has already secured its first two third party clients and is actively engaged in tenders for other business. While the value of the run-off base, in the absence of the retail infrastructure to support it, is clearly uncertain, we will aim to use it to grow the Connected World Services business as part of continuing operations going forward and will present this within Headline results.

ii) CPW Europe Acquisition

The CPW Europe Acquisition gave rise to a number of exceptional items.

Operating expenses include banking and professional fees of £7m in relation to the transaction. Additionally, as a result of the transaction, a number of incentive schemes could not be maintained in their existing form, and they were either allowed to vest early or were replaced during the year. This resulted in cash costs of £8m and an acceleration of non-cash accounting charges of £3m. A tax credit of £3m has been recognised in respect of these costs.

The CPW Europe Acquisition required the Group to fair value its existing 50% interest in CPW Europe, which was considered to be equal to the £500m gross consideration for Best Buy's 50% interest, giving rise to a non-cash gain of £1m.

Arrangements with Best Buy allowed the Group to manage the disposal of the Consideration Shares issued to Best Buy, and to benefit from any gain on disposal above a share price of £1.90. The Consideration Shares were placed at a price of £2.44, resulting in a net cash gain of £23m for the Group. The gain implied by comparing the share price at completion, being £2.38, and £1.90, is treated as an adjustment to consideration (see note 4) and the remaining gain of £2m is recorded in the income statement.

iii) CPW Europe Reorganisation

During the prior year, CPW Europe undertook a review of its UK and group operations, with a view to simplifying group functions and giving more autonomy and accountability to individual business units. CPW Europe also initiated plans to reduce its store portfolio and operating cost base across certain Mainland European markets. As a result of this exercise, the business booked an exceptional charge of £18m in relation to redundancies, lease exit costs and other cash restructuring costs.

A tax credit of £7m was recognised against these charges, principally in respect of relief anticipated on cash reorganisation costs and the de-recognition of deferred tax liabilities.

The Group's post-tax share of these charges was £5m.

iv) Amortisation of acquisition intangibles

A charge of £16m arose during the year in relation to acquisition intangibles arising on the CPW Europe Acquisition, against which a tax credit of £3m has been recognised.

Amortisation in the prior year within discontinued operations relates to acquisition intangibles within Virgin Mobile France which arose on the acquisition of Tele2 France in December 2009.

4 CPW Europe Acquisition

On 26 June 2013 the Group completed the CPW Europe Acquisition for a gross consideration of £500m, bringing the Group's ownership interest to 100%. CPW Europe is one of the largest independent telecommunications specialists in Europe, operating retail stores, principally under the Carphone Warehouse and Phone House brands, together with well-developed online propositions. CPW Europe is also increasingly focused on leveraging its assets and expertise to provide services to third parties through its Connected World Services business.

The primary reasons for the acquisition were to bring a simplified ownership structure, making day-to-day management easier and the strategic decision-making process more streamlined, and enabling the Group to better leverage CPW Europe's asset base and know-how. The fair values of the identifiable assets and liabilities of CPW Europe as at the acquisition date were as follows:

	Notes	£m
Intangible assets		120
Property, plant and equipment		72
Deferred tax assets		44
Stock		343
Trade and other receivables	a) i)	1,112
Net cash and cash equivalents		53
Current asset investments		5
Trade and other payables		(836)
Corporation tax liabilities		(48)
Provisions	a) ii)	(63)
Loans and other borrowings		(271)
Finance lease obligations		(3)
Identifiable net assets		528
Goodwill	a) iii)	484
Total consideration		1,012
Satisfied by:
Fair value of existing joint venture investment	b) i)	500
Cash	b) ii)	370
Deferred consideration	b) iii)	50
Equity	b) iv)	113
Derivative asset	b) iv)	(21)
		1,012
Net cash outflow arising on acquisition:
Cash consideration		370
Less net cash and cash equivalents acquired		(53)
		317

a) Net assets acquired

i) The fair value of trade and other receivables represents gross contractual amounts receivable of £1,135m, less amounts not considered collectable of £23m.

ii) Provisions include the recognition of contingent liabilities of £8m in relation to legal claims and other potential exposures. It is expected that any costs associated with these contingent liabilities will be incurred over the next four years.

iii) The goodwill of £484m arising on the acquisition reflects the fact that CPW Europe's value is based on its cash generating potential rather than its existing assets, and the fact that many of its key strengths, such as its scale and expertise, do not represent intangible assets as defined by IFRS. None of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for income tax purposes.

b) Consideration

i) IFRS 3 'Business Combinations' requires that the Group's existing 50% interest in CPW Europe be revalued to its fair value as part of the acquisition accounting process. The fair value of this interest is considered to be equal to the gross consideration of £500m paid by the Group to acquire Best Buy's 50% interest in CPW Europe. As the carrying value of the Group's investment in CPW Europe was £499m at the acquisition date, a gain of £1m was recognised in non-Headline operating expenses in respect of this revaluation.

ii) Gross cash consideration of £370m was settled on completion, offset by payments from Best Buy of £29m in respect of the prepayment or termination of the Group's other interests with Best Buy.

iii) The £50m of deferred cash consideration, which bears interest at 2.5% per annum, is payable to Best Buy in two equal instalments of £25m in June 2014 and June 2015.

iv) A further £80m of consideration was provided through the issue on completion of 42.1m shares to Best Buy, at a price of £1.90 per share. The Group had the right to place the Consideration Shares on Best Buy's behalf during the 12 month period to June 2014, and to retain any upside on disposal. The value of the Consideration Shares on completion was £101m, based on a share price at that date of £2.38, and this value is recorded as consideration, with the value associated with the right to place the Consideration Shares recognised as a derivative financial asset of £21m. The Consideration Shares were placed in July 2013 at an average price of £2.44, resulting in a net cash gain of £23m for the Group. The difference between the disposal proceeds and the value of the derivative financial asset has been recognised as a gain of £2m in non-Headline operating expenses.

As part of the transaction, the Group agreed to satisfy Best Buy's obligations in relation to certain incentive schemes. Shares with a value of £12m were issued in respect of Best Buy's obligations and have been included in consideration.

c) Other information

The results of CPW Europe have been consolidated into the Group's income statement from 26 June 2013, contributing £2,561m of revenue and a profit before tax of £61m in the period to 29 March 2014. If the acquisition had completed on 1 April 2013, being the first day of the financial year, the Group's revenue would have been £3,402m and the Group's profit before tax would have been £46m.

Transaction-related charges of £18m, comprising banking and professional fees of £7m and cash and non-cash charges relating to incentive schemes of £11m have been included in non-Headline operating expenses.

5 Equity dividends and other distributions

The following dividends and distributions were paid during the year:

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Redemption of 172p per B share through the B/C Share Scheme		-	33
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2012 of 3.25p per ordinary share		-	15
Interim dividend for the year ended 31 March 2013 of 1.75p per ordinary share		-	8
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2013 of 3.25p per ordinary share		19	-
lnterim dividend for the year ended 29 March 2014 of 2.00p per ordinary share		11	-
		30	56

The following distribution is proposed but has not been effected at 29 March 2014:

	£m
Final dividend for the year ended  29 March 2014 of 4.00p per ordinary share	23

The proposed final dividend for the year ended 29 March 2014 is subject to shareholders' approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting and has not been included as a liability in these financial statements.

6 Reconciliation of Headline results to statutory results and Headline results to pro forma results

	Profit (loss) before interest and taxation		Profit (loss) before taxation	Profit (loss) from continuing operations	Profit (loss) from discontinued operations	Profit (loss) for the year
2014	£m		£m	£m	£m	£m
Headline results	136		127	102	-	102
Exceptional items*	(15)		(15)	(12)	-	(12)
Amortisation of acquisition intangibles*		(16)	(16)	(13)	-	(13)
French operations (in process of closure)*	(29)		(29)	(29)	-	(29)
Statutory results	76		67	48	-	48

* See note 3 for further details.

		Profit (loss) before interest and taxation	Profit (loss) before taxation	Profit (loss) from continuing operations	Profit (loss) from discontinued operations	Profit (loss) for the year
2013 (restated)		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Headline results	51		53	52	3	55
Share of joint venture exceptional items (post-tax)*	(5)		(5)	(5)	-	(5)
French operations (in process of closure)*	(45)		(45)	(45)	-	(45)
Share of discontinued joint venture amortisation of acquisition intangibles*	-		-	-	(1)	(1)
Statutory results	1		3	2	2	4

* See note 3 for further details.

Headline information is provided because the directors consider that it provides assistance in understanding the Group's underlying performance.

Pro forma results are reconciled to Headline results as follows:

	Revenue	EBIT	PBT	Revenue	EBIT	PBT
	2014	2014	2014	2013	2013	2013
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Headline results	2,505	136	127	11	51	53
Share of results of joint ventures	-	(3)	(3)	-	(48)	(48)
CPW Europe joint venture (see note 8)	777	12	9	3,337	129	120
Unwind of discounts on network commissions receivable*	-	6	-	-	-	-
Pro forma results	3,282	151	133	3,348	132	125

* As explained in note 8, CPW Europe Headline EBIT includes the unwinding of discounts for the time value of money on network commissions receivable over the life of the customer. In the period since the CPW Europe Acquisition, the Group has reflected such discounts in the income statement within interest income. The discounts, which have a value of £6m in this period, have been reclassified in pro forma results for consistency with CPW Europe presentation.

7 Earnings per share

a)      Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders

The calculation of both basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following profit attributable to ordinary shareholders:

		2014 £m	Restated 2013 £m
Headline earnings Continuing operations		102	52
Discontinued operations		-	3
Total		102	55
Statutory earnings Continuing operations		48	2
Discontinued operations		-	2
Total		48	4

b)      Weighted average number of ordinary shares

The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following weighted average number of ordinary shares, with the number of shares used for the diluted calculation being adjusted for the dilutive effect of share options and other incentive schemes:

		2014 million	2013 million
Weighted average number of shares
Average shares in issue		558	473
Less average holding by Group ESOT		(3)	-
For basic earnings per share		555	473
Dilutive effect of share options and other incentive schemes		7	6
For diluted earnings per share		562	479

c)      Basic and diluted earnings per share

			Basic earnings per              share (pence)		Diluted earnings           per share (pence)
			2014	2013	2014	2013
Headline earnings
Continuing operations			18.4p	10.9p	18.1p	10.8p
Discontinued operations			0.0p	0.7p	0.0p	0.7p
Total			18.4p	11.6p	18.1p	11.5p

Statutory earnings Continuing operations		8.6p	0.3p	8.5p	0.3p
Discontinued operations		0.0p	0.6p	0.0p	0.6p
Total		8.6p	0.9p	8.5p	0.9p

8 Interests in joint ventures and assets held for sale

Interests in joint ventures are as follows:

Business	Principal activities	Country of incorporation	29 March  2014	31 March 2013
CPW Europe	Retail, distribution, insurance, telecoms services	England and Wales	n/a	50.0%
Virgin Mobile France	MVNO	England and Wales	46.3%	46.3%

The Group acquired Best Buy's 50% interest in CPW Europe on 26 June 2013, following which the Group's joint venture interest in CPW Europe was derecognised and the Group consolidated the results of CPW Europe. Refer to note 4 for further details.

Management of Virgin Mobile France hold share options in the business. In addition to share options, management of Virgin Mobile France hold warrants that give them the right to acquire new shares at a price based on the value of existing shareholder funding and an additional amount which increases with the quantity of shares being acquired. The maximum potential dilution to the Group's stake if all existing share options and warrants were exercised is approximately 5.0%, although the value of this dilution would be partially offset by cash inflows in relation to the proceeds on exercise.

On 16 May 2014 the Group announced that it had entered into an exclusivity agreement for the sale of Virgin Mobile France (see note 11). The results of Virgin Mobile France are therefore presented within discontinued operations and the Group's interest in that business is presented as an asset held for sale.

a)      Group balance sheet interests

The Group's interests in joint ventures are analysed as follows:

	Net assets (liabilities)	Goodwill	Loans	Total
2014	£m	£m	£m	£m
Opening balance	414	103	20	537
Share of results	(20)	-	-	(20)
Loans repaid (net)	-	-	(2)	(2)
Revaluation of interest in CPW Europe	1	-	-	1
Disposal of interest in CPW Europe	(397)	(103)	-	(500)
Reclassification of Virgin Mobile France to assets held for sale	7	-	(18)	(11)
Foreign exchange	(5)	-	-	(5)
Closing balance	-	-	-	-
CPW Europe	-	-	-	-
Virgin Mobile France	-	-	-	-
Closing balance	-	-	-	-

	Net assets (liabilities)	Goodwill	Loans	Total
2013	£m	£m	£m	£m
Opening balance	409	103	24	536
Share of results	-	-	-	-
Loans repaid (net)	-	-	(4)	(4)
Share of other reserve movements	3	-	-	3
Foreign exchange	2	-	-	2
Closing balance	414	103	20	537
CPW Europe	421	103	-	524
Virgin Mobile France	(7)	-	20	13
Closing balance	414	103	20	537

b)      Assets held for sale

The Group's assets held for sale are analysed as follows:

	2014	2013
Virgin Mobile France	£m	£m
Share of net liabilities	(7)	-
Loans	18	-
Assets held for sale	11	-

Loans are provided to Virgin Mobile France under a shareholder agreement; funding requirements are agreed between the shareholders on a regular basis and are provided in proportion to each party's shareholding. Virgin Mobile France also has an overdraft facility and a third party three-year financing arrangement to provide funding of up to €25m in respect of capital expenditure.

c)      Analysis of profits and losses

The Group's share of the results of its joint ventures within continuing operations is as follows:

		Period ended 26 June 2013	Restated 2013
CPW Europe		£m	£m
Headline revenue*		777	3,337
Headline EBIT**		12	129
Net interest expense		(2)	(9)
Taxation on Headline results		(5)	(25)
Headline profit after taxation		5	95
Group share of Headline profit after taxation		3	48
Group share of French operations (in process of closure) (post-tax)		(23)	(45)
Group share of exceptional items (post-tax)		-	(5)
Group share of loss after taxation		(20)	(2)

 * Prior year comparatives have been restated to classify the results of the Group's operations in France as non-Headline. Revenue associated with this business prior to the CPW Europe Acquisition was £49m (2013: £357m). Reported revenue on a statutory basis is £826m (2013: £3,694m).

** Headline EBIT includes the unwinding of discounts for the time value of money on network commissions receivable over the life of the customer. This unwind has a value of £3m for the period ended 26 June 2013 (year ended 31 March 2013: £9m) and is treated as interest income in the joint venture's statutory results.

The Group's share of the results of its joint ventures within discontinued operations is analysed as follows:

Virgin Mobile France		£m	£m
Revenue*		346	385
Headline EBIT		3	12
Net interest expense		(1)	(1)
Taxation on Headline results		(1)	(4)
Headline profit after taxation		1	7
Group share of Headline profit after taxation		-	3
Group share of amortisation of acquisition intangibles (post-tax)		-	(1)
Group share of profit after taxation		-	2

* Revenue excludes contributions towards subscriber acquisition costs from network operators and customers, as the directors consider that this provides a better representation of underlying performance. These items, which have a value of £48m in the year ended 29 March 2014 (2013: £74m), are netted off against acquisition costs within Headline EBIT.  Reported revenue on a statutory basis for the year ended 29 March 2014 is £394m (2013: £459m).

d)      Analysis of assets and liabilities

The Group's share of the assets and liabilities of CPW Europe is as follows:

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Non-current assets		-	548
Cash and overdrafts (net)		-	124
Other borrowings		-	(3)
Other assets and liabilities (net)		-	172
Net assets		-	841
Group share of net assets		-	421

The Group's share of the assets and liabilities of Virgin Mobile France is as follows:

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Non-current assets		98	100
Cash and overdrafts (net)		2	2
Loans from the Group		(18)	(20)
Other borrowings		(34)	(22)
Other assets and liabilities (net)		(62)	(75)
Net liabilities		(14)	(15)
Group share of net liabilities		(7)	(7)

There are no material contingent liabilities in relation to Virgin Mobile France, which had no capital commitments at the end of either year.

Total Group share		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Total Group share of net (liabilities) assets of joint ventures		(7)	414

9 Financial instruments fair value disclosure

Financial instruments that are measured at fair value in the condensed financial statements require disclosure of fair value measurements by level based on the following fair value measurement hierarchy:

·     Level 1 - quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

·     Level 2 - inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly (that is, as prices) or indirectly (that is, derived from prices); and

·     Level 3 - inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable market data (that is, unobservable inputs). 

The significant inputs required to fair value all of the Group's financial instruments are observable. The Group only holds Level 2 financial instruments and therefore does not hold any financial instruments categorised as either Level 1 or Level 3 financial instruments.  There have also been no transfers of assets or liabilities between levels of the fair value hierarchy. 

Fair values have been arrived at by discounting future cash flows, assuming no early redemption, or by revaluing forward currency contracts to year-end market rates or rates as appropriate to the instrument.

The directors consider that the book value of financial assets and liabilities recorded at amortised cost and their fair value are approximately equal.

The book value and fair value of the Group's financial assets, liabilities and derivative financial instruments is as follows:

		2014	2013
		£m	£m
Cash and cash equivalents		283	117
Trade and other receivables excluding derivative financial assets		1,010	3
Derivative financial assets		2	-
Loans to Virgin Mobile France (see note 8)		18	20
Trade and other payables		(869)	(17)
Finance leases		(1)	-
Deferred consideration		(50)	-
Loans and other borrowings		(290)	-

10 Related party transactions

During the year, the Group had the following disclosable transactions and balances with its joint ventures:

			CPW Europe	Virgin Mobile France	CPW Europe	Virgin Mobile France
			2014	2014	2013	2013
			£m	£m	£m	£m
Revenue for services provided			-	1	4	-
Net interest and other finance income			-	1	-	1
Loans owed to the Group			-	18	-	20
Other amounts owed to the Group			-	-	1	-
Other amounts owed by the Group			-	-	(6)	-

Revenue for services provided in the prior year relates to investment property rental income. 

Revenue for services provided to Virgin Mobile France in the current year relates to commissions on sales of Virgin Mobile France connections by the Group's wholly owned operations in France.

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

11 Post balance sheet events

On 15 May 2014, the Company announced that it had reached agreement on the terms for an all-share merger with Dixons Retail plc (the "Merger"). Under the terms of the Merger, ordinary shareholders in Dixons Retail plc will for each of their shares in Dixons Retail plc receive 0.155 shares in the Company, which will be renamed Dixons Carphone plc. The Board considers that the Merger will deliver significant value to Carphone shareholders through a combination of enhanced commercial opportunities and operating synergies, which are expected to deliver recurring annual benefits of at least £80m by the 2017-18 financial year. The Merger is expected to be effected by way of a scheme of arrangement and is conditional on the approval of the ordinary shareholders of both the Company and Dixons Retail plc and the sanction of the court.

On 16 May 2014, the Company announced that, alongside the other shareholders in the business, it had entered into an exclusivity agreement in respect of the proposed sale of Virgin Mobile France to Numericable Group for an enterprise value of €325m. During the exclusivity period the parties have carried out the necessary consultations with employee work councils, and the transaction is subject to the approval of the French competition authority.

12 Risks and uncertainties

The table below summarises the most material risks identified and the ways in which the business seeks to mitigate them.

Risk	Mitigation
Consumer environment
CPW's major markets have experienced economic headwinds since 2009. There still remains some uncertainty around the economic outlook for some markets. The products and services offered by CPW may be viewed as discretionary, and consequently affected by consumer confidence.	CPW continues to focus on strong cost control to try to ensure that it is well positioned to deal with an uncertain environment.
Dependence on key suppliers and customers
CPW's principal revenue streams are from MNOs. Changes in MNO strategies in relation to CPW or more generally, and/or their performance, could materially affect the revenues and profits of the business. CPW is dependent on relationships with key suppliers to source products on which availability may be limited.	CPW prioritises commercial arrangements that are closely aligned with the interests of MNOs and focuses on high-value segments to help drive economic value for the networks. CPW seeks to increase and leverage the scale of its operations to support strategic relationships.
Competition
CPW operates in markets that are highly competitive and competitor behaviour may damage revenues and margins. In some markets CPW may not have the scale required to compete effectively against increased competition.	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.
Regulation
CPW is subject to regulation in a number of areas, including insurance operations, information security and customer management. Non-compliance with regulation could result in financial loss and/or reputational damage to the business.	The business has internal committees and control structures to manage these requirements, to ensure appropriate compliance, and to react swiftly should issues arise.
Operations
CPW is dependent on internal and external IT systems which could fail or be unable to keep pace with the needs of the business.	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. CPW mitigates the risk of being dependent on outsourced IT systems by partnering with 'tier 1' application and infrastructure providers with best-in-class credentials, whilst also retaining key intellectual property and know-how in-house.
Foreign exchange
A material part of CPW's activities and earnings are denominated in Euros, giving rise to exposure to foreign currency fluctuations.	The business may hedge a proportion of such earnings, to provide certainty of their value.

13 Statement of directors' responsibilities

The audited financial statements for the year ended 29 March 2014 have been prepared in accordance with IFRS and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. The management report herein includes a fair review of the important events during the year, a description of current principal risks and uncertainties and a fair review of disclosure of related party transactions and changes therein.

The directors of Carphone Warehouse Group plc are listed on the Group's website www.cpwplc.com.

By order of the Board

Nigel Langstaff

Chief Financial Officer

25 June 2014

 

END

 

 

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