Carphone Upbeat on Mobile Market as Profit Up

Posted 02 November 2006 @ 11:09 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

LONDON (Reuters) - Carphone Warehouse sought to dispel doubts about the viability of its business as an independent mobile phone retailer on Thursday as it posted a 60 percent rise in half-year profit and a positive outlook.

The firm, Europe's top mobile phone retailer, was dealt a severe blow last month when Vodafone Group said it would stop selling contract connections in the UK from Carphone's stores and named rival Phones 4U as its exclusive partner.

Its shares took a beating on fears that other operators could follow suit, hurting margins and with it the longer term viability of its mainstay retailing business.
However, Carphone said sales or footfall into its stores had not suffered since Vodafone's decision, and its margins were also unaffected.

"Our margins don't change. They have not changed for the month of October. And we don't expect them to change going forward," Finance Director Roger Taylor told Reuters in an interview. Carphone maintains that the loss of the business from Vodafone would be made up by additional business from other operators and it expected no change to its financials.