Carphone Warehouse Group plc has published its preliminary results for the financial year ended 31st March 2011. It says its share of Best Buy Europe’s net income was up 28% year-on-year to £60.4 million, while CPW Europe grew 18% to £134.6 million. However, Best Buy UK saw a loss of £62.2 million.
Roger Taylor, the company’s CEO, said “This has been a year of considerable success for the Group, during which our businesses have made impressive progress. As a result, we ended the year with Group Headline earnings per share of 15.0p and a strong balance sheet with over £156m of funds and loan assets. The Group is well positioned to maintain this momentum, despite the tough economic environment. This combination of financial strength and positive outlook lies behind the inauguration of our progressive dividend policy, with a dividend for the year ended 31 March 2011 of 5.0p.”
The company comprises a 50% joint venture share in Best Buy Europe, an MVNO with Virgin in France and a number of other assets. Best Buy Europe is comprised of CPW Europe, a profit share in Best Buy's US mobile phone retailing operations and the UK Best Buy ‘Big Box’ chain.
It talks positively about its Carphone Warehouse and Phone House stores, noting that the larger format ‘Wireless World’ stores are ideally suited to offer a wide range of tablets. However, connection figures are expected to drop slightly in the coming year. It also says it’s “evaluating the next steps” when it comes to Best Buy UK.