Retailer said Music Magpie is now “run rate profitable” following its £35m acquisition
AO World has reported profits more than doubling as it defended its acquisition of online trade-in platform Music Magpie, which had been weighing on growth.
The electrical retailer posted rising profits and revenue, announcing that Music Magpie is now “run rate profitable”.
The pre-owned online marketplace had been recording a £6m loss and citing a “challenging” economic environment when it was acquired by AO World for £35m in December 2024.
Music Magpie added £3.5m in advertising costs, £7.3m in warehouse fees and £11m in administrative spending to its new parent company’s balance sheet in the year to March. But AO World credited its new acquisition with driving “the majority” of its 181 per cent surge in revenue within the second-hand commerce market, reaching £120m.
The FTSE 250 retailer’s revival of Music Magpie was achieved through withdrawing from its loss-making US operations and consolidating its warehouse network, it said, as reported by City AM.
AO revealed it has outsourced most of its inbound sales operations to a third-party firm in South Africa to avoid “ongoing inflationary pressure, and particularly rising employment costs”.
Retailers have intensified pressure on the Government in recent weeks over its increases to national insurance contributions and minimum wages, cautioning that escalating employment costs risk aggravating the youth unemployment crisis. This initiative “maintained service quality” and delivered savings of £2m this year, with anticipated annual savings of £4m in future years, the company said.
Pre-tax profit across the AO World group surged by 145 per cent to £51m, while turnover rose 11 per cent to £1.3bn.
The group recorded total liquidity of £201m at the financial year end, with profit conversion to cash generating free cash flow of £66m, up 152 per cent year-on-year.
AO World unveiled a new £10m special dividend alongside a separate £10m share buyback programme, underlining its “strong cash generation” over the past year.
The firm celebrated its status as the UK’s “most trusted electrical retailer” after becoming the first retailer worldwide to surpass one million Trustpilot reviews, maintaining a 4.9-star rating.
AO’s founder and chief executive, John Roberts, said: “In a category as demanding as ours, that trust is hard-won and almost impossible to copy. It sits nowhere on our balance sheet, yet it’s among the most valuable things we own.”
The group said it is responding to declining demand for phone contracts by restructuring its post-pay mobile business. This division had been loss-making, but AO said on Wednesday that it is now profitable.
The retailer said it is “confident in its ability to grow revenue,” but acknowledged the uncertainty created by “geopolitical volatility, cost inflation, shifts in consumer demand and rapid technological change”.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at stockbroker IG, said AO World is “swimming in cash” and is well placed to capitalise should inflation start to ease in the months ahead.
“A turnaround in its debt position and a surge in pre-tax profit is great news for shareholders, and news of more largesse in the form of dividends and buybacks should provide the fuel for a further recovery in the shares after a tough first half of 2026,” he added.
AO World, established as Appliances Online in 2000 and headquartered in Bolton, saw its shares climb 2.6 per cent to 98.5p on Wednesday.







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