Carphone Warehouse: impartiality pays dividends

• Demand for impartial advice drives rise in profit
• Fixed line operations exceed expectations
• Second half to bring new UK-based call centre and 100 additional shops

Europe’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has reported a 69% hike in first half pre-tax profits to GBP20.3 million, beating analysts expectations of between GBP18 million and GBP19 million. Turnover for the six months ended 30 September dipped 4% from GBP861 million to GBP825 million although turnover from its business-to-business fixed line unit, Opal Telecom, grew 52.4% driven by high profile customer wins such as Chelsea FC and Capital Radio. Talkback, the group’s fixed line business launched in February on the back of the Opal network, recorded a GBP5.5 million loss, although with 140,000 customers at the end of September, customer additions are beating expectations.

According to the company’s CEO Charles Dunstone, the complexity of mobile tariffs and the influx of new mobile phones to the market has helped to boost his business. ‘The increased competition between mobile networks and the flow of new handsets and other mobile devices, combined with continuously charging tariffs, are reinforcing the customers need for impartial advice’ he said. ‘The competitive environment is playing to our strengths and we are looking forward to a good trading period over Christmas and New Year’ he added. Carphone Warehouse currently operates around 500 stores in the UK and 600 in the rest of Europe. It is planning to open a further 100 stores over the next 12 months, around half of which will be in the UK. The firm is also opening a call centre in Warrington, in a move which bucks the recent trend for UK companies to transfer call centres to India to take advantage of cheap labour.

Source: PriMetrica's GlobalComms Database