Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse beat expectations with a 62 per cent surge in annual profit today and said it would buy a French telecoms services firm in a £54 million sterling deal.
Pre-tax profit rose to £49.6 million in the year ended March 31st - slightly ahead of market expectations - from £30.6 million a year before.
The London-based chain, which has over 1,050 stores across Europe, said the acquisition of Communications De Mobile Cellulaires SA (CMC) was the first step to developing a panEuropean business.
Shares in Carphone Warehouse, which have underperformed general retailers by 36 per cent in the year to date and the FTSE All Share index by 26 per cent, were up 0.4 per cent at 139p at 11.14 a.m. after peaking at 148p.
The company said the Christmas holiday season continued to drive demand in mobile phones with over 75 per cent of earnings achieved in the six months to March 2001.