Technology retailer Currys has used its half year results to warn of price rises, as a result of “new and unwelcome headwinds from UK government policy”.
While the group celebrated revenue increases of 1% to £3.9bn, with like-for-like UK and Ireland revenue up by 5%, Currys stressed it faced costs outwith its control.
“In the UK&I, we made big improvements to both Online and Stores channels, customers continued to take more of the solutions and services that are valuable to them and to us, and such growth drivers as B2B and iD Mobile performed well,” noted Alex Baldock, group chief executive, Currys.
“All this showed in growing sales, market share, gross margins and profits. In the Nordics, we gained market share, increased gross margins, tightly controlled costs and grew profits in a still-tough consumer environment.
“Underpinning our progress in both markets is strong customer satisfaction, which increased again, and colleague engagement now firmly established in the top 10% of companies worldwide.”
Baldock added that Currys was well prepared for peak, and it was ready to meet demand for the latest technology. It has seen rising demand for AI-enhanced laptops, and predicts this trend to continue into 2025.
“Looking ahead, we’re confident of continuing our progress, and expect to grow profits and cashflow as promised this year. This is despite new and unwelcome headwinds from UK government policy. These will add cost quickly and materially, depress investment and hiring, boost automation and offshoring, and make some price rises inevitable,” he warned.
“Still, there’s plenty we can control, including mitigating much of this headwind. We’ll keep colleague engagement world class, customer satisfaction increasing, cashflow growing for shareholders, and playing an ever-bigger role in society. We have growing momentum at Currys. As ever, I’m hugely grateful to the tens of thousands of colleagues whose brilliant work makes all this possible, and who are building this ever-stronger Currys.”
Read more about Currys in a dedicated company profile in the new format UK 360° report.
The report offers a briefing on the UK market as a whole, how shoppers buy and want to buy, the retailers, brands and marketplaces that are succeeding in this market, and the services that the most successful provide to their customers.
There are eight company profiles in total, including Argos, Asos, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Schuh Screwfix and Tesco.
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