|
AO World PLC on Wednesday reported a significant boost in profit following a recent strategic pivot. The Bolton, England-based electrical retailer said in the year that ended March 31, pretax profit multiplied to £34.3 million from £7.6 million the year prior. Revenue fell 8.7% to £1.04 billion from £1.14 billion in line with expectations as a result of the removal of non-core channels and loss-making sales. The company increased overall liquidity, a combination of cash and equivalents with remaining credit balances, by 30% to £116 million from £89 million. During the year the company served 600,000 new customers with repeat customers, who account for 54% of all, taking an increasing market share of the overall business. AO World remains a key player in the UK major domestic appliance market with a 15% share. Chief Executive John Roberts said: ‘We have made good progress on our profit performance in FY24, which is a testament to the success of our strategic pivot to focusing on profit and cash generation. The pivot carried out by management focused on reducing cost and waste while also improving operations and leveraging the benefits of being vertically integrated. ‘We are now a much simpler, more efficient business and are performing better than ever for customers, with excellent and sustainable unit economics,’ Roberts added. Looking ahead, AO World said it is confident the company will achieve double-digit revenue growth in financial 2025 alongside an improved pretax profit between £36 million to £41 million. AO World shares were up 4.1% to 117.65 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
