LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Online electricals retailer AO World hailed a "strong" performance on Tuesday as it said that full-year profit was set to be around the top end of its previously upgraded guidance range.
In a pre-close update for the year to the end of March, the company said adjusted pre-tax profit has grown faster than sales, by around 30%, and is expected to be around the top end of its previous guidance range of £39m to £44m.

B2C retail revenues are expected to have risen by around 12% year-on-year, with estimated like-for-like group revenues up around 7% to £1.1bn. This reflects reductions in B2B and mobile as the company focuses on profitable growth as set out in the half-year results in November.

On 12 December 2024, AO successfully completed the acquisition of musicMagpie. It said on Tuesday that the post-acquisition performance of musicMagpie is expected to contribute around £30m of revenue and a negligible loss to the FY25 results.

"Looking ahead to FY26, our current momentum means we expect our B2C retail business will deliver another year of double-digit revenue growth and our other revenue categories to be broadly flat," it said.

"Despite the wider economic uncertainty and cost headwinds from the Government's budget we again expect adjusted profit before tax to continue to grow faster than sales."

AO also announced the appointment of Mark Higgins to the role of chief operating officer, in addition to his existing role of chief financial officer.

Chief executive and founder John Roberts said: "Our strong performance shows that our model is working. With a globally leading Trustpilot score of 4.9 from almost 750,000 reviews, and AO Five Star membership continuing to grow strongly, we're cementing our position as the most trusted electrical retailer and are increasing our frequency and share of wallet with customers.

"AO is back to being a highly efficient growth machine; we are reaping the rewards from the execution of our strategy and 25 years of unwavering obsession with amazing customer service.

"We're carrying good momentum into the new financial year and are pleased to be guiding to another year of double-digit revenue growth in our B2C Retail business, and for profits to keep growing faster than sales."

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