Data breach woes likely to prove drag at Currys owner

0 City analysts have pointed to the weak performance of the company’s mobile phone division Dixons Carphone is tipped to report a fall in profits this week as the retail group continues to reel from a mammoth data breach that saw millions of customer details hacked in a cyber attack.

The Currys and PC World owner is forecast to report a 23 per cent decline in headline full-year pre-tax profits to £382 million, according to a consensus of City analysts.

HSBC’S Andrew Porteous said the figures have been dragged down by the weak performance of the company’s mobile phone division, as well as investment.

The results will come after a bruising period for the retailer. In May, Dixons Carphone shares tumbled as the company warned that profits would continue to fall, and then it recently came clean over a cyber attack.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “These results come less than a month after a jarring profit warning saw the shares drop 21 per cent, giving up the gains made earlier in the year.”