LONDON (Reuters) - British electricals and mobile phone retailer Dixons Carphone (LONDON:DC) expects to benefit as Britons find they have more spare cash to spend in 2015, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Wages in Britain are recovering after growing by less than inflation for much of the period since the financial crisis whilst shop prices are barely rising, increasing consumers' spending power.
"Some commentators are putting disposable income growth this year at 8 percent in the UK, which is absolutely unheard of," Sebastian James said in an interview with Reuters at the Retail Week Live industry conference.
"Will we get all 8 percent? Probably not, but we'll get some of it," he said.
James noted that when disposable income was under pressure consumers had put back big projects like new kitchens and buying large screen televisions because they were worried about their futures.
"I think that worry is dissipating," he said, "We're doing okay."
James said he was unsure whether the new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Watch would transform the smartwatch market, though his gut feeling was it would give the market "a push".
"These watches by and large have been a bit goofy to own up until now, an iWatch may make it cool to have a smartwatch," he said.
James noted there will be "a few months" lag between Apple launching the product exclusively in its own stores on April 24 and Dixons Carphone starting to retail it.
In January the firm, formed by last year's merger between Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse, raised its 2014-15 profit forecast after Christmas trading beat expectations, having been given an early boost by Black Friday deals in November.
At the time of the merger the firm set an annual cost savings target of 80 million pounds by 2017-18, centred around head office, staff and stores.
James said 80 million pounds was "a floor, we think there's more."
He also highlighted opportunities for Dixons Carphone to grow in the services space.
"In the next three to four years we need to get to a place where we stop selling you stuff and we start keeping your house working, your family safe and helping you get healthier," he said.
Shares in Dixons Carphone, up 16 percent over the last six months, were up 1.4 percent at 434.3 pence at 2.20 p.m., valuing the business at about 5 billion pounds.