Dixons Carphone has seen half year profits collapse after a difficult mobile phone market hammered the retailer, but the group said a record Black Friday provided a boost ahead of the critical Christmas trading period.
Headline pre-tax profit for the 26 weeks to October 28 tumbled 60 per cent to £61 million, while total sales nudged up 3 per cent to £4.87 billion.
Dixons Carphone was dragged down by a 3 per cent fall in comparable sales at its troubled mobile phone division as it pledged to reposition the arm to deliver a "simpler, less capital-intensive business", although it gave no further details.
UK profit fell from £130 million to £34 million in the period.
The results come after Dixons Carphone warned in August over a Brexit profit hit as the soaring cost of new mobile phones means people are holding on to older models for longer.
The electricals giant has said the pound's collapse following the country's decision to quit the European Union has meant an increase in shop prices for mobile devices and bemoaned "challenging conditions".
Chief executive Seb James said on Wednesday: "As we said in August, the UK post-pay mobile phone market is tougher, with a combination of higher handset costs and relatively incremental technology growth continuing to cause customers to hold on to their handsets for longer and some to choose a SIMO contract in the meantime.
"In addition, the later launch of the iPhone X pushed some sales into the second half of our financial year.
"Throughout the period, we made a very conscious decision to fight hard to drive sales in our product offering, and this has impacted mobile profitability."
Profits were also hit by a £58 million charge from a change in receivables revaluations and insurance contract terms.
In brighter news, the retailer said that it has had a good start to peak trading ahead of Christmas following a record Black Friday across all geographies.
Dixons Carphone was buoyed by the performance of electricals, where like-for-like sales rose 7 per cent across the group and 6% in the UK.
The firm expects full year profit to come in at between £360 million to £400 million.