Dixons' overall losses widen to £25.3m

Group revenue actually increased one per cent, but UK and Ireland performance saw a five per cent drop in turnover

Dixons’ UK and Ireland business has continued to make a loss in its first-half financials, but overall group revenue inched up one per cent.

The firm is focusing heavily on customer service and satisfaction with its Knowhow service offering, which it claimed was helping it gain vital market share.

However, despite improvements, the group’s underlying pre-tax loss widened from £6.9m in 2010 to £29.3m in H1 2011.

For the UK and Ireland, turnover was down five per cent to £1.5bn compared with £1.6bn in the same period the previous year. Losses narrowed from £10.7m to £3.9m in H1 2011.

On a group scale, total revenue increased one per cent from £3.27bn in 2010 to £3.29bn in 2011, with profit dropping from £14.6m in 2010 to £4.9m in 2011.

It also reduced net debt to £143.2m from £215m year on year and said its £60m cost reduction plan was "on track" for the current year as part of its three-year, £150m cost-cutting plan.

John Browett, chief executive of Dixons, said: “Our focus on building a services-led business model is differentiating our offer for customers and suppliers. In what remains a challenging environment, the pace and impact of improvements in our operating model is driving outperformance versus our competitors and market share gains.

“While we remain cautious about the economic outlook for the second half of the year, we are well positioned and remain focused on delivering value, choice and service for customers,” he added.