AO World plc AGM and Interim Management Statement (5999T)
21 July 2015 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAO.
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 m(2) 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 ao@tulchangroup.com.
For further information, please contact:
AO World plc
John Roberts +44 (0)1204 672403
Steve Caunce ir@ao.com
Mark Higgins
Tulchan Communications
Tom Buchannan +44 (0)2073 534200
Michelle Clarke
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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