AO has raised its full-year forecast once again, driven by a significant increase in both profits and sales during the first half of the year.
It is now projecting adjusted profit before tax to be between £39m and £44m, with group revenues expected to reach £1.13bn.
For the six months ending 30 September 2024, the electricals retailer saw a 30% rise in adjusted profit before tax, reaching £17m, while total revenues climbed 6% to £512m.
Operating profits grew by 11%, and B2C retail revenues saw a 13% increase, totalling £382m.
The business noted that both adjusted profit before tax and earnings per share for shareholders grew at a faster pace than revenues, in line with its planned targets.
Key operational achievements during the period included expanding its Five Star membership, launching a third-party warehousing solution for small products in April, and acquiring musicMagpie.
The retailer also highlighted that, following the recent UK Budget, it anticipates an additional £4m in direct costs annually, along with £8m in indirect costs.
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AO founder and chief executive John Roberts said: “I’m delighted to report another successful six months for AO during which our main B2C Retail business has returned to double digit growth alongside making more progress towards our medium-term ambition of delivering a PBT margin of over 5%.
“We’ve had a Morecambe and Wise summer sales period; all the right volumes just not in the right categories. The wet summer weather meant we sold fewer fridges and air conditioning units and more tumble driers than we had planned. Overall, our team did a fantastic job to play this out as a satisfying score draw.
“We also made good progress beyond our core MDA category, and I’m very encouraged with how our customers and members are responding to our improved range and value proposition in newer categories.
“Our laser focus on costs and efficiency remains which ensures, as planned, that profit grew faster than sales on the growth we’ve delivered.”
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