AO World revenue rises 25 per cent on improved website sales
Online white goods retailer AO World said total revenue rose 25.1 per cent to £384.9m in the six months to September 30.
The retailer, which launched its IPO in February, said website sales increase by 38.6 per cent during this period to £173.7m. This was offset slightly by third-party website sales, which fell 11 per cent, as the company continued to focus on AO.com.
However, its pre-tax profit took a hit, falling to £779,000 from £2.1m a year earlier, largely due to the set-up costs of its earlier-than-anticipated entry into the German market.
John Roberts, chief executive officer, said:
The UK growth was delivered at the same time as management resource was also focused on launching our proposition in Germany, which we achieved in October some six months earlier than promised. This launch has given us confidence in our ability to replicate our model overseas.
While this accelerated investment has brought forward our associated set-upcosts for the period, our focus is on the long-term as we proceed with our strategy to deliver a market-leading proposition in new categories and countries.Although Germany has only been operating a number of weeks, we are delighted with the way our culture has transferred, with the way it's operating and with the way sales are building. Trading for the second half of this financial year has started well.
The stock has had a choppy year, along with other tech stocks in London and the US, on fears that a bubble was forming in the industry. Having floated at 400p in February, stock has since fallen to about 214p. This morning shares fell one per cent to 214.8p.