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Dixons' strong Christmas trading was spurred on by tablet sales, the electrical goods retailer has announced. However sales of e-readers were down at the firm.
Dixons saw total sales increase by 7% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 5th January, excluding store openings and closures, and the UK and Ireland saw a sales rise of 8%.
Dixons chief executive Sebastian James said tablet sales were "phenomenal" across all its stores, spread across Europe, which "impacted overall headline margins somewhat". UK and Nordic markets were particularly strong. Tablet sales continued to fall in Southern Europe, though, James said.
Overall the group sold "well over 1m" tablets in its third quarter, shifting five tablets a second in the week before Christmas, a spokesperson told The Bookseller. He added that the best-selling tablet models (in no order) were Google Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy, iPads and Blackberry Playbooks. Sales of e-readers declined over the period but the firm attributed this to tablets being the "standout gift item this year, as e-readers were last". Dixons also sells Nook products.
The company said its full-year underlying profit before tax was expected to be in line with market expectations of £75m-£85m.