Newly merged electricals and mobile phone retailer Dixons Carphone has said that it has made a “good start” to the enterprise, with sales boosted by the World Cup and returning consumer confidence.

In its first quarter trading statement, the group said that its electricals division saw a strong performance in the UK and Ireland, with like-for-like sales up 4%. Sales at Carphone Warehouse were down 6%, as anticipated, due to a particularly strong performance the previous year and difficult market conditions in Spain.

Sebastian James, group chief executive, said: "I am pleased to report a good start to the year and to our new shared enterprise. Dixons Carphone looks to be in excellent shape to tackle the perpetually shifting sands of the market and to achieve its goal of improving our customers' lives through technology.

"The integration is going well with 7 departments now serving both parts of the business in an integrated way and, although it is early days, our 11 stores-in-store are performing ahead of the business case that we set out in our merger announcement.

"In the UK and Ireland our electricals business has had a strong start with good growth for a second year helped by the World Cup, some consumer recovery and a number of initiatives including free warranties on a wide range of products. As expected, our mobile business has been slower in the first quarter than last year, which saw an exceptional period of promotional activity. We have however seen postpay market share gains, improved postpay mix and higher ARPU from 4G, all of which have been helpful in offsetting this. We continue to have strong relationships with all our network partners, which means that we are now the only place where customers can really choose the proposition that is perfect for them.

"In the Nordics we have had a solid start across the board against strong comparatives last year and the business seems set fair for a good year in terms of its competitive position. In Southern Europe there is no doubt that the Spanish and Portuguese markets remain quite tough for our mobile businesses, but our excellent teams are responding very entrepreneurially to these challenges. In the meantime, our Greek business has had an excellent quarter of growth and has developed a number of smart ideas that we will look to deploy more widely.

"Our Connected World Services division has also had a good quarter deploying a contract with a major global brand and continuing the roll-out of operations across Europe for Samsung and Media-Markt Saturn. The pipeline remains strong and I look forward to discussing this exciting business in more detail as it develops.

"I am also really pleased, on behalf of the whole team, that Dixons Carphone will join the FTSE 100 on 22 September. Passing this milestone, while not dramatic in itself, is a good sign of momentum and belief in our shared future. In short, a good start."