Tech retailer recorded 3% revenue growth in UK and Ireland while Nordic sales jumped 12% over peak trading period
The customer entrance at a Currys superstore(Image: Getty)
Shares in tech retailer Currys surged on Wednesday following the release of an optimistic Christmas trading update, bucking the trend of wider high street gloom.
The London-listed firm reported a three per cent increase in UK and Ireland revenue, gaining a larger market share from robust mobile sales, as well as growth in computing and appliances.
In the Nordics, revenue rocketed by 12 per cent, which the company labelled a “standout performance”, as reported by City AM.
Currys shares rose almost eight per cent in trading on Wednesday.
The group’s omnichannel sales strategy, which integrates its online and physical store experience, yielded an 11 per cent boost to UK sales, outperforming individual channels
“Our omnichannel model is winning. We gained market share in both UK&I and Nordics, in both stores and online, and our fastest growth was where customers use both channels together,” said group chief executive Alex Baldock. He added: “This is a competitive advantage we’ll keep building,”.
Baldock announced that Currys is now expected to achieve between £180m and £190m in pre-tax profit for the year, which would be 11 to 17 per cent ahead of consensus expectations.
He also revealed that the group’s £50m share buyback programme would bring the total cash returned to shareholders to nearly £75m for the year.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said: “Hopes were running high leading into this update, and Currys has delivered in spades, with a glowing performance over its peak trading period leading to a profit guidance upgrade.”
Currys’ shares have rocketed by over 45 per cent in the past year, as the retailer has managed to buck the trend of a gloomier economic sentiment around consumer confidence.
High street businesses and the retail sector have been hit hard by weakened consumer confidence in recent months. In December, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed that a hoped-for Black Friday boost failed to materialise, with retail sales inching up by just 1.4 per cent, falling short of the average growth for the year at 2.5 per cent.
BRC’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, stated that Black Friday did not deliver “as retailers had hoped or the economy needed”.
In the run-up to the Autumn Budget, Currys was vocal in its criticism of government policy, with Baldock warning in August that higher business rates risk “higher prices, lower investment, fewer jobs and more boarded-up shops”.
Currys has its head office campus in Waterloo, as well as hubs across the UK and a key distribution base in Newark.
