Currys has reported strong growth in annual revenue and profits ahead of Alex Baldock’s departure.
The CEO will leave the London-listed electricals retailer this autumn for Boots.
Group statutory profit before tax for the year ended 2nd May was £191 million, up 18% on the previous year, with group revenue coming in at close to £9.3 billion – up 6% year on year.
Group year-end net cash was £176m after £74m of shareholder returns and £82m of pension contributions.
Currys also announced a new £50m share buyback, to commence today.
Revenue for the UK and Ireland was £5.4bn, up 3%, with revenue in Currys’ other market of the Nordics coming in at £3.8bn, up 12%.
Growth was driven by market share gains in both channels and strategic initiatives, including 7% growth in recurring services revenue, 10% in credit sales (to £1.2bn) and 18% in iD Mobile subscribers (to 2.6m).
Sales growth in both channels and gross margin expansion more than offset cost increases.
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“Our performance continues to strengthen. Profits and cash flow are healthily up, supported by a balance sheet that has never been stronger, even after growing shareholder returns,” said Baldock.
“Currys is trending in the right direction on every dimension that matters. Colleague engagement is among the top 10% of global businesses, customers are saying they’re happier (with record satisfaction) and showing they are, as we grew share and extended our lead as market #1. Top line and bottom line, products and Services, the UK&I and the Nordics: all are in growth.
“The outside world remains uncertain, and we are not counting on it to do us any favours. Still, there is much more in the tank here. Growth opportunities such as B2B have almost trebled the market accessible to us, are driving the topline today, and have much further to go. And, though we’ve significantly increased the adoption of the solutions that delight customers and boost margins, the prize here remains larger still.
“In Fredrik, the business has an outstanding leader to continue and accelerate this progress. I’ll be a loyal Currys customer, advocate and shareholder all my life, and will be cheering on Fredrik and his world class team. As ever, my heartfelt thanks and admiration go to the thousands of capable and committed colleagues who are building this ever-stronger Currys.”
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