Retailer confident about trading

London: Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s biggest mobile phone retailer, raised its full-year earnings forecast and said it was “quietly confident” about Christmas trading, adding to signs of a consumer recovery.

The group, whose TalkTalk arm is Britain’s second-biggest broadband provider behind BT, also said it was on track to split into two businesses by the end of March and was speeding up the roll-out of its smaller Wireless World stores. “We’re quietly confident for Christmas,” finance director Roger Taylor said after Carphone beat forecasts with an 88% rise in first-half earnings.

He saw strong demand for smartphones like Apple’s iPhone as well as cheaper pre-pay touchscreen phones only available on contracts last year, and for laptops following the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system.