Profits at Dixons Carphone fell by 60 per cent in the first half of the year, as people held onto their old handsets for longer.

The retailer said like-for-like mobile phone sales fell by three per cent in the first six months of its financial year, as reported by the BBC.

Dixons Carphone warned on profits in August because of changes in the phone market. Pre-tax profits fell to £61m in the six months to 28th October, compared with £154m in the same period last year. The company now expects full-year pre-tax profits to reach between £360m and £400m, compared with £510m in the previous 12 months.

The company said people are increasingly holding onto their old phones until they break, rather than upgrading to new, expensive models like the iPhone X, which retails at £1,000.

It has also been hit by customers paying a small fee upfront to take home an expensive phone, meaning the company is covering the real cost of the phone for months or even years. It is looking to find a finance company to take over that role in future.

There are stand-alone Carphone Warehouse stores in Gloucester, Cirencester, Stroud and Cheltenham, as well as within Curry's/ PC World stores in Cheltenham and Gloucester. The company has a total of 700 Carphone stores and more than 1,000 stores within the group. It currently has no plans to sell any of its stores.

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