14th Jan 2022 15:09
(Alliance News) - Currys PLC on Friday revealed it was one of the outliers in an otherwise strong Christmas period for the UK retail sector, as the electrical goods seller reported "uneven customer demand and supply disruption".
For the 10 weeks that ended January 8, group like-for-like revenue fell 5% compared to growth of 4% two year before. International like-for-like revenue in the same 10-week period was down 3%, while for the UK & Ireland revenue fell 6%.
"This was a gamers' Christmas, the year that virtual reality broke into the mainstream, and when consoles flew off the shelves. Oculus Quest 2 and PS5 were stars. Appliances large and small also enjoyed strong sales, as consumers continued to kit out their homes. Still, the overall UK tech market was down 10% compared to last year's peak period," Chief Executive Alex Baldock said.
Currys expects to post full-year adjusted pretax profit of around GBP155 million. This would be largely flat on the prior year.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman commented: "It might have been a 'gamers' Christmas' as CEO Alex Baldock eluded to in his comments, but that wasn't enough to keep electrical goods shifting in high numbers from the shelves."
"On a morning where wider markets are weaker, news that the group was slightly lowering its full-year guidance hasn't been received well. Those looking longer term should take solace in the fact the medium term targets are intact and the planned share buyback is commencing."
Currys shares were 6.7% lower at 104.90 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould added: "The nation loading up on laptops and phones throughout 2020 set the bar high for 2021 in terms of Christmas technology sales to beat. While there was still a steady trickle of purchases in recent months, there just wasn't enough festive demand to beat the year-on-year comparative figures for Currys."
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Currys