REG - AO World plc - Trading Statement

AO WorldAnnouncement

28/02/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 2169R  AO World plc  28 February 2023

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7
of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic
law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information
Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

28 February 2023

AO WORLD PLC

Trading update and Increased Profit Guidance

 

AO World plc ("the Company" or "AO"), a leading online electrical
retailer, today issues the following  trading update, increasing our profit
guidance for the year to March 2023.

 

Consistent with the themes set out in the trading statement issued on 10
January, we continue to see traction from the initiatives taken by the
business to reduce costs and improve margins.

 

Margin improvement initiatives coupled with a continued resilient underlying
customer base has driven higher retail gross margins than previously expected
and we anticipate that this will continue for the remaining five weeks of the
financial year. The steps we have taken to simplify the business and become
more efficient have outperformed expectations and been delivered quicker than
expected. Mobile RPI price increases have also been slightly higher than our
prudent forecast.

 

Accordingly, the Board now expects Adjusted EBITDA(1) to be in a range of
£37.5m to £45m for the full year, an increase to the previous guidance(2)
that we gave in January 2023.

 

AO expects to publish a full year post close trading statement on 14 April
2023.

 Enquiries
 AO World plc

 John Roberts, Founder and Chief Executive             IR@AO.com (mailto:IR@AO.com)
 Mark Higgins, Group CFO

 Powerscourt                                           Tel: +44 (0)20 7250 1446

 Rob Greening

 Nick Hayns

 

(1) Adjusted EBITDA is defined as profit/(loss) before tax, depreciation,
amortisation, net finance costs, profit/loss on disposal of fixed assets, and
other adjusting items (including restructuring costs).

(2) In our trading update announcement on 10 January 2023 we guided to a range
of £30m to £40m.

 

 About AO

 AO World plc, headquartered in Bolton and a constituent of the FTSE Small
 Cap index, is a leading online electricals retailer in the UK.  Our strategy
 is to create value by offering our customers brilliant customer service and
 making AO the destination for everything they need, in the simplest and
 easiest way, when buying electricals, including major and small domestic
 appliances and a growing range of mobile phones, AV, consumer electricals and
 laptops.

 We deliver for our customers via our in-house logistics business and carefully
 selected third parties. We also provide ancillary services such as the
 installation of new products and recycling of old products as well as offering
 product protection plans and customer finance.  AO Business serves the B2B
 market in the UK, providing electricals and installation services at scale.
 Our Recycling capability, a WEEE processing facility, allows AO to ensure its
 customers' electronic waste is dealt with responsibly.

 Cautionary statement

 This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements (including
 beliefs or opinions) with respect to the operations, performance and financial
 condition of the Group. These statements are made in good faith and are based
 on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future
 events. By their nature, future events and circumstances can cause results and
 developments to differ materially from those anticipated. Except as is
 required by the Listing Rules, Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and
 applicable laws, no undertaking is given to update the forward-looking
 statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information,
 future events or otherwise. Nothing in this document should be construed as a
 profit forecast or an invitation to deal in the securities of the Company.
 This announcement has been prepared for the Group as a whole and therefore
 gives greater emphasis to those matters which are significant to AO World plc
 and its subsidiary undertakings when viewed as a whole.

 

 

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