Best Buy Co Inc, the largest US consumer electronics chain, reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales, helped by strong demand for smartphones and large-screen TVs.
Best Buy said its revenue growth in the United States was driven by sales of mobile phones bundled with billing plans by telecom carriers. Under these plans, telecom carriers allow customers to buy new phones for a low down payment and pay the remaining amount in instalments along with monthly bills.
Best Buy also benefited from selling more high-margin computer hardware and fewer low-margin tablet computers, the company said.
Best Buy's revenue from the United States rose 1.4 percent to $7.9 billion in the first quarter. However, the company's same-store sales fell 0.7 percent.
The total revenue growth forecast includes the impact of some store closures and consolidation of operations in Canada, the company's second largest market.
The net income attributable to Best Buy's shareholders fell to $129 million, or 36 cents per share, in the first quarter ended May 2 from $461 million, or $1.31 per share, a year earlier.