Factbox: All about Currys, UK chain China's JD.com and US fund Elliott vie for

Public Power SA

19/02/2024 15:33

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Currys  CURY.L  shares soared on
Monday after Chinese online retailer JD.com  9618.HK  joined
U.S. activist investor Elliott Advisors in a battle to buy the
British home appliance and electronics retailer, which has
already rebuffed Elliott's 700 million pound  ($881.79 million)
opening bid. 
    Below is a brief history and a snapshot of present
operations of the 130 year-old business, which has gone from
selling bikes and gramophones a century ago to drones and
virtual reality headsets today.
    
    FROM 19TH CENTURY UNTIL NOW ...
    In 1884, Henry Curry founded Curry Cycle Co, a
bicycle-building business. It floated on the stock market in
1927 but was bought by Dixons Retail in 1984. Dixons listed on
the London Stock Exchange in 1962. 
    A series of acquisitions later, Dixons Retail merged with
Carphone Warehouse in 2014 to become Dixons Carphone - UK's No.1
tech retailer selling everything from mobile phones to smart TVs
online and in-store. 
    However, the Carphone Warehouse business was hit hard by
changes in the mobile networks market as consumers held onto
handsets for longer and chose cheaper SIM-only contracts. It
also lost partner deals with mobile networks such as O2 and EE.
It closed all its standalone stores in 2020.
    The company renamed itself to Currys in 2021, although its
Nordic business continued to trade under the Elkjop banner.
    Currys sold its Greek unit Kotsovolos last November to Greek
power utility Public Power Corp for an enterprise value of 175
million pounds and the transaction is expected close in the
first quarter of 2024.
    
    STORES AND MARKET SHARE 
    The Currys UK brand operates 301 stores in the country,
while Elkjop has 426 stores across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and
Finland, and franchise operations in Greenland, Iceland and the
Faroe Islands. 
    Overall, the company employs about 28,000 people.
    In the UK, Currys has a 24% market share, while in the
Nordics it has a 27% share. Kotsovolos is the top tech retailer
in Greece. 
    
    SHARE PRICE, VALUATION AND SLIDING PROFITS 
    Shares of the FTSE 250  .FTMC  constituent now trade at
around 63 pence, more than 87% below 2015 peaks of more than 500
pence, valuing the company at 734.5 million pounds. 
    In its last fiscal year ended April 29, 2023, Currys
reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of 119 million pounds
compared with 192 million pounds a year earlier and pre-pandemic
figures of 166 million pounds. 
    The group, which sells everything from TVs to washing
machines, air conditioners, laptops and game consoles, has
struggled to grow over the last two years as sales retreated
after spiking during the pandemic and high inflation hurt
consumer spending along with stiff competition from e-commerce
giants. 
    
    COMPETITORS 
    The news of a potential takeover of Currys boosted shares of
competitors, such as British rival AO World  AO.L , Germany's
Ceconomy  CECG.DE  and France's Groupe Fnac Darty  FNAC.PA . 
    
    OWNERSHIP 
    According to LSEG data, hedge fund Redwheel is Currys'
largest shareholder with a 14.9% stake, followed by Spanish
investment firm Cobas Asset Management, which has a 9.2% stake. 
    British retail industry veteran Mike Ashley's Frasers Group
is the third largest shareholder in Currys, with a 6.6% stake. 
    David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone also owns a nearly 5%
stake in the company. 

($1 = 0.7938 pounds)

 (Reporting by Eva Mathews and Aby Jose Koilparambil in
Bengaluru
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((Eva.Mathews@thomsonreuters.com;))