Shares in Currys PLC have jumped 7% in a few hours after the electronics retailer reported positive annual results.
The listed firm’s share price is 126p at the time of writing (1.15pm) after climbing 34% this year and 70% over the last 12 months.
The group’s adjusted profit before tax for the last financial year was £162m, up 37%, while sales grew 3% to £8.7bn. Group year-end net cash was £184m, up £88m YoY, resulting in its ‘strongest balance sheet in over a decade’.
Currys operates in the UK and Ireland as well as the Nordics under its Elkjøp brand, employing 24,000 people. It has 708 physical stores, an established online presence and operates a mobile virtual network, iD Mobile.
iD Mobile subscribers grew 26% to 2.2m in the year.
Currys said it has also now established a B2B leadership team capable of servicing SMEs with suppliers, products, services, channels, supply chain and service operations.
“In this we’ve learned from the Nordics, which is further advanced in exploiting this opportunity with B2B enjoying 3x higher share of business than the UK&I,” it stated. “This fact, and a total accessible market that could be as large as the existing B2C market, shows there is much more to go for in B2B. We aim to at least double our UK&I B2B sales over the next three years.”
Alex Baldock, group chief executive, added: “We’re uniquely placed not just to sell customers amazing technology, but to help them enjoy it to the full. Customers are increasingly adopting our credit, setup, installation, repair and connectivity services, building valuable recurring revenues for Currys.
“We’re now seen as the home of AI-enabled tech and our investments in new product categories and serving B2B customers are showing early signs of success.
“Our brands – Currys in the UK&I and Elkjøp in the Nordics – are stronger than ever. A new generation of customers is discovering Currys, thanks to brilliant social campaigns which have delivered industry-leading levels of engagement.”