2nd Jun 2015 06:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - AO World PLC Tuesday reported a narrowed pretax loss and rise in revenue in its recently-ended financial year as it recovered from costs associated with its initial public offering in London the previous year, but said it missed its earlier financial expectations due to a weaker-than-expected sales performance in the fourth quarter.
The FTSE 250-listed online domestic appliances retailer said it made a pretax loss of GBP2.9 million in the year to March 31, compared with a loss of GBP7.6 million the prior year, while revenue grew 24% to GBP476.7 million from GBP384.9 million.
However, these results were lower than AO World had hoped for earlier in the year, as it issued a profit warning back in March following a slowdown in sales growth in the last quarter. It said it faced a tough comparative with the final quarter of the previous year, which had been helped by extra publicity surrounding its initial public offering.
AO World added that it is encouraged by its progress over the first six months of trading in Germany and said that sales momentum is gathering pace. German operations finished the year with an annualised sales run rate of GBP19.8 million, based on GBP1.7 million monthly sales for March.
AO World said it will not pay a dividend for the full year.
"Our long-term plan is on track and, despite missing our financial expectations for the year, we have continued to take market share in the UK MDA market delivering significant growth in UK sales and adjusted Ebitda," Chief Executive John Roberts said in a statement.
"Our customer proposition remains strong - our unbeatable prices, huge range and amazing service mean our customer satisfaction levels have remained exceptional and we will continue to focus on this in the year ahead. The passion we have for our customers, staff and all other stakeholders has never been stronger and we still believe we can change the way Europe buys its electricals, simply by caring more and executing brilliantly," Roberts added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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