Annual sales and profits grow for AO World
Online electricals retailer AO World enjoyed growth in both sales and profits in its latest financial year.
The group, which has its recycling centre at Halesfield, Telford, and a new distribution base in Stafford, saw revenue grow 62 per cent to £1.66 billion in the year to the end of March. UK revenue was up 59 per cent to £1.43bn.
AO World's pre-tax profit was up from £1 million a year before to £20m.
The growth in sales was driven by the continued shift to online shopping and in the UK by demand for larger fridges, chest freezers and other home appliances.
AO's founder and chief executive, John Roberts, said: "It's been a step change year for AO in which we've achieved significant strategic, operational and financial progress. The early and bold investments we made in capacity, infrastructure and people returned increased revenues by 62 per cent."
"Most importantly, we rose to the challenge for the people who matter most, our customers, and we relished the opportunity to impress two million more of them in the period.
"Delivering brilliantly for customers is at the heart of our mission to become the global destination for electricals. We firmly believe that once people experience a better way to buy electricals, they are unlikely to return to old ways of shopping. Our vertically integrated business model offers substantial operational leverage which means all incremental growth feeds our flywheel, generating cash to invest back into our business for customers.
"Coming out of the pandemic, the direction of travel is firmly with AO, and our proven ability to build scale and drive growth gives us confidence to look towards further European expansion over the next five years. We'll continue to make choices that create long-term value for our share owners, as well as make our mums proud."
