Currys shares soar after retailer defies high street gloom
Shares in tech retailer Currys soared this morning after the firm released an upbeat Christmas trading update, defying wider gloom on the high street.
The London-listed firm recorded a three per cent uptick in UK and Ireland revenue as it clawed a bigger market share from strong sales in mobile, as well as growth in computing and appliances.
In the Nordics, revenue soared 12 per cent, which the company branded a “standout performance”.
Currys stock was up five per cent in early trading to 131.50p.
The group’s omnichannel sales strategy, which merges its online and physical store experience, delivered an 11 per cent boost to sales in the UK, outpacing 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.
“This is a competitive advantage we’ll keep building,” group chief executive Alex Baldock said.
Currys lifts profit guidance
Baldock said Currys was now set to notch between £180m and £190m in pre-tax profit for the year, which would come 11 to 17 per cent ahead of consensus expectations.
He added the group’s £50m share buyback programme would bring total cash dished out to shareholders to near £75m for the year.
“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,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor.
Currys shares have surge over 45 per cent in the last 12 months with the retailer able to defy a gloomier economic sentiment around consumer confidence.
High street firms and the retail sector have been rocked by dampened consumer confidence in the last few months. In December, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed a Black Friday boost failed to materialise with retail sales edging up by 1.4 per cent, falling below the average growth of the year at 2.5 per cent.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said that Black Friday did not deliver “as retailers had hoped or the economy needed”.
Currys took vocal opposition on government policy on the road to the Autumn Budget, with Baldock warning in August that higher business rates risk “higher prices, lower investment, fewer jobs and more boarded-up shops”.
“Even the strength of this performance has not diminished appetite for the stock, with the market consensus of the shares as a strong buy holding firm,” Hunter added.