FESTIVE trading and cost pressures will be in sharp focus when electricals and mobile phones giant Dixons Carphone posts half-year results on Wednesday.
The Currys and PC World owner will be looked to for an update on how the group fared over Black Friday and in the run up to Christmas when it reports figures.
Black Friday was the strongest trading day in the group's history in 2015 and the City will be keen to hear if it was matched this year.
The group's half-year results are set to show a strong performance over the six months to the end of October, with analysts pencilling in a 16.5 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £141 million.
Like-for-like sales growth is expected to have held up well in the second quarter, at 3.5 per cent in the UK and Ireland against four per cent seen in the previous three months.
The group said in September that demand was proving resilient, with shopper footfall in its stores defying the slump seen across many fashion outlets.
But shares have languished and are down by a third so far this year amid investors' concerns over the impact of the weak pound on costs and demand next year.
Analysts at Credit Suisse believe fears are overdone.
"We argue that Dixons Carphone will pass through higher costs, while demand is likely to remain stable and the flux in the industry should help the company gain market share in the UK and Europe," they said.
Dixons Carphone - created from the £5 billion merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014 - is also in the middle of a store overhaul, shutting 134 shops while it rolls out electrical superstores merging its three main brands across the UK and Ireland.
It announced the plans in January but said it would relocate all staff affected to nearby superstores.
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