The Group has decided on a new CEO just days after Seb James announced he was moving to Boots.
Companies: Currys PLC
Dixons Carphone (LON: DC.) has released its Christmas trading results alongside the announcement it had found a new CEO just days after Chief Executive Seb James said he was standing down.
After 6 years at the helm, Mr James is leaving the Group to run Boots at the end of the financial year in April. He will be replaced by Alex Baldock, current CEO of Shop Direct, the UK's second largest pure play online retailer.
Commenting on the appointment of its new CEO, Group Chairman Ian Livingston said:
"The Board and I are delighted to welcome Alex Baldock to the Group. He has an outstanding track record in leading large, complex consumer-facing businesses. He's led Shop Direct through one of UK Retail's fastest, most far-reaching and most successful digital transformations, delivering five consecutive years of record financial performance, with strongly rising sales and an almost tenfold increase in profits."
The news Mr James was leaving the Group comes two weeks after Dixons FD Humphrey Singer announced he was leaving for M&S in July.
In its Christmas Trading Update, it reported like-for-like Revenue growth of 6%, including 3% growth in the UK and Ireland, 11% in the Nordics and 23% LFL Revenue growth in Greece.
Much of its bump in sales figures were attributed to the release of the iPhone X in November.
Looking forward, Seb James commented:
For the remainder of this year we have an early Easter, a new Samsung phone and the first week or two of our World Cup promotion to look forward to, and work continues on redefining and refocusing our Carphone Warehouse business to be a simpler, less capital intensive model. We expect to deliver a full-year PBT in the range £365m to £385m and, with rather better cash conversion this year, we expect year-end net debt to be c. £250m."
Shares jumped 5% on Monday morning off the back of the announcements. This comes, however, amidst the stock's downward trend experienced over the past two years - today's price of 197p is well below its price of 499p in December 2015.
The Group trades on a forecast earnings multiple of 7x and has a forecast dividend yield of c. 6%.
