Dixons closes Spanish stores

Struggling retailer Dixons Retail, which owns PC World and Currys, today pulled the plug on its loss-making Spanish business.

The group’s 34 PC City stores, online arm and head office will shut by the summer and its 1,364 staff are likely to be made redundant after Dixons failed to turnaround the business in the face of Spain’s economic difficulties.

Dixons, which has 1,200 stores in 28 countries, signalled it was mulling a move to pull out of Spain when it issued its second profits warning of the year last month. Worsening trading conditions saw same-store sales tumble 11% in the UK and Ireland in the 11 weeks to March 26.

It is expected that the closure will result in a one-off hit to Dixons of £30m (€33.8m) but boost trading results by about £5m (€5.6m) a year.

The company said its Spanish PC City stores did not fit in with its plans to sell a combination of electrical goods and computers in all of its stores. Dixons has had a presence in the country for around 10 years.