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Ambitions for expansion go on hold

12 April 2012

TOUGH times ahead in its core home market have forced Dixons to put its overseas ambitions on hold. Chairman Sir John Collins, who took over from Sir Stanley Kalms last September, said today because of economic uncertainty the group intended 'to focus on our existing UK and international businesses for the immediate future'.

Overseas operations provide a quarter of Dixons' turnover and only last November it spent £233m to take control of UniEuro, Italy's second-largest electricals retailer.

It had been interested in Darty, the French electricals business owned by Kingfisher, which plans to split electricals from its B&Q and Castorama DIY operations. But, with a price tag of about £1bn, Darty looks out of Dixons' reach. As chief executive John Clare said today, echoing the mood of shoppers, 'This is not the time to go out and spend.'

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Consumer Goods
Dixons Group
Italy
Retail