TIDMAO.
RNS Number : 5148V
AO World plc
15 April 2021
15 April 2021
AO WORLD PLC
FULL YEAR TRADING UPDATE ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
A year of outstanding financial and operational progress
The Group delivered a strong performance across all aspects of
the business, stepping up to, and capitalising on, the challenges
and opportunities presented by the Covid pandemic. This included
significant increases in revenue, a step change in profitability at
both Group and divisional levels, strong cash generation, improved
financial resources, and substantial progress in operational
capability. This was achieved whilst sustaining AO's leading scores
for customer engagement and without financial support from
Government.
Highlights:
-- Group revenues increased by 62% to GBP1.66bn(1) , with
momentum continuing in the fourth quarter;
-- AO.com, our UK website, increased year-on-year revenue by 88%
in Q4, and AO.de, our German website, increased full year revenue
by 77%;
-- Our German business achieved run rate profitability in Q3 and
is expected to generate profits in the current financial year;
-- Over 2 million new customers(2) were added in the financial
year, who experienced The AO Way for the first time;
-- Our customer satisfaction rating, as measured by Net Promoter
Score, continued to be ranked amongst those of world-leading
consumer companies at over 80(3) .
-- The One AO strategy, together with changes to our operating model and associated investments, significantly enhanced our operating capacity and strengthened the Group's positioning as we seek further growth.
As a result of these achievements, Group Adjusted EBITDA(4) ,
despite Covid-related costs, is expected to be in the range GBP63m
- GBP72m (FY 2020: GBP19.6m), in line with market consensus(5) .
Over the period, Government support was either repaid or not
claimed and had no impact on profitability.
In addition, in our Q3 statement on 19 January, we referred to
an increase in warranty plan cancellations. We are completing a
full reconciliation of the contract base, and subsequently expect a
one-off non-cash reduction in the region of GBP15m in the value of
the contract asset relating to the period 2008 to 2020. We will
provide further detail at our full year results in June.
Financial position
The Group generated GBP60m of cash over the year, with cash of
GBP66.5m (2020: GBP6.9m) at the year end. Net cash (excluding right
of use lease liabilities) at year end stood at GBP57.0m (2020:
GBP(23.4)m debt), with our re-negotiated RCF(6) of GBP80m now
maturing in April 2023. This gives total liquidity headroom of
GBP142.6m at the period end.
John Roberts, AO Founder and Chief Executive said:
"I am delighted to report a year of outstanding financial,
operational and strategic progress. The last 12 months have been
like no other and we have been very proud to rise to the challenges
for our customers - keeping their lives powering on with essential
electrical and technology products. Serving customers in The AO Way
and treating every customer like our own gran, irrespective of
cost, has enabled us to impress millions of customers with a better
way to shop electricals.
"We were brave and bold in our capacity and infrastructure
investments early in the year and now look forward to building on
that scale advantage.
"I believe that these market dynamics will stick and, whilst
there is inevitable uncertainty, the direction of travel is firmly
with AO and the business model we have spent more than 20 years
building. I expect that we will continue to be a double-digit
growth business in the year ahead, even now as we lap the tough
comparatives from last year with physical stores open. I look
forward to providing more detail at our full year results in
June.
"I would like to thank all AOers for living our values through
this year and our trading partners who have been with us shoulder
to shoulder as we have shown millions of customers a better way to
shop electricals."
AO World will announce its Full Year results for the year on
Wednesday, 16 June 2021, with the RNS and presentation released at
7.00 am BST and available on the IR website thereafter. There will
be a Q&A session for analysts and investors broadcast at 9.30
am BST (7) , which will also be available on our website on the
day.
Enquiries
AO World plc +44 (0)7525 147 877
John Roberts, Founder and Chief IR@AO.com
Executive
Mark Higgins, Group CFO
Cynthia Alers, Investor Relations Director
Powerscourt Tel: +44(0)20 7250 1446
Rob Greening ao@powerscourt-group.com
Lisa Kavanagh
Sam Austrums
About AO
AO World plc, headquartered in Bolton and a constituent of
the FTSE 250, is a leading online electrical retailer, with
a mission to be the global destination for electricals. Our
strategy is to create value by offering our customers brilliant
customer service and making AO the destination for everything
they need, in the simplest and easiest way, when buying electricals.
In the UK, we sell major and small domestic appliances and
a growing range of mobile phones, AV, consumer electricals
and laptops, delivering them via our in-house logistics business
and carefully selected third parties. We also provide ancillary
services such as the installation of new and collection of
old products and offer product protection plans and customer
finance. AO Business serves the B2B market in the UK, providing
electricals and installation services at scale. AO launched
in Germany in October 2014 selling major and small domestic
appliances, AV and electrical floorcare products. AO also
has a majority equity stake in AO Recycling, a WEEE processing
facility, allowing AO to ensure its customers' electronic
waste is dealt with responsibly in the UK.
Notes
(1) Adjusted to exclude prior year revenues for AO.nl which
ceased trading in March 2020.
(2) New customers calculated as gained through our websites,
AO.com and AO.de and excluding AO Mobile, customers previously
acquired through AO.NL and customers added through third party
sites.
(3) Based on average Net Promoter Scores across the AO brand
and our MPD platform for the 12 months ended 31 March 2021.
(4) Group Adjusted EBITDA is defined as profit/(loss) before
tax, depreciation, amortisation, net finance costs, and other
adjusting items (e.g., non-cash one-off items).
(5) Consensus estimates of Group Adjusted EBITDA as at 14
April 2021 based on five analysts' estimates ranging from
GBP63m to GBP72m and averaging GBP66m.
(6) Revolving Credit Facility.
(7) Details will be posted on our website Investor Centre
| AO World (ao-world.com) and in our results announcement
on the day.
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