AGM and Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5999T

AO World plc

21 July 2015

 



21 July 2015

AO World plc

AGM and Interim Management Statement

AO World plc (the "Company"), the UK's leading online retailer of major domestic appliances is holding its Annual General Meeting at 10am today, at which the following Trading Statement for the period 1 April 2015 to today's date, will be made by the Chairman; Richard Rose:

Strategic Progress

The business is on track with its long-term strategic progress.  As we stated in our recent Annual Report, we continue to build brand awareness which is our key focus this financial year. We are excited to announce a new partnership with Karmarama, an innovative British advertising agency, who will head up our creative initiative moving forward and help to demonstrate our market-leading proposition to customers both old and new.

Our unbeatable prices, huge range and availability, complemented by outstanding service means that our customer satisfaction levels have remained market beating. A testament to this is we recently were the first pure play online retailer to win 'Best Retailer" at Verdict's 2015 Retailer Customer Satisfaction Awards, beating strong competition, as well as winning the award for "Best Online Fulfilment".

Sales continue to build satisfactorily in Germany. Initial feedback from customers is that they are delighted with our proposition. We have just commenced our first national TV advertising campaign reflecting confidence in our operation and our intention to increase sales volumes to the next level. We are pleased to confirm that, in line with our strategic growth plan for ao.de, we have entered into a 10 year lease for a new European distribution facility in Bergheim, near Cologne, and expect to take occupation during the first half of FY17.  The property will comprise a 35,000 m² warehouse and head office, replacing two of our existing sites, and will be capable of serving our anticipated sales growth in the German market. As planned it should also assist to facilitate our initial expansion in to countries surrounding Germany.

Current UK Trading

As we communicated in February we expected sales growth in the first quarter of this financial year to be muted.  We report revenue growth in the UK business for the 3 months ended 30 June 2015 was 6.5%, with our orders up 13.9%. AO.com experienced revenue growth of 11.2% year on year. This growth was delivered through a period of particularly intense competitive activity in the market, compounded by the uncertainty surrounding the general election.

As expected we have had a strong start to trading in July and we are encouraged by the indications of growth in housing transactions and disposable income in the broader market. We are mindful of recent volatility and intense competitive activity in the market, however, our customer loyalty continues to increase and we see this coming through in repeat business. The business is operating efficiently and we continue to expect the business model to deliver as expected for the full year.

The Company's half year results for the six months ending 30 September 2015 will be announced on 24 November 2015.

AO will be holding a conference call for analysts and investors today, 21 July 2015 at 7.45am. To register and for dial-in details please contact [e-mail].

For further information, please contact:

AO World plc

John Roberts                                     [phone]

Steve Caunce                                    [e-mail]

Mark Higgins

Tulchan Communications

Tom Buchannan                               [phone]

Michelle Clarke

 

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