AO World plc Trading Statement (2169R)
February 28 2023 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAO.
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 GBP37.5m to GBP45m 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 IR@AO.com
Executive
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 GBP30m to GBP40m.
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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END
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