‘Confident’ AO tops its profit guidance in a year of ‘good progress’

AO posted adjusted profit before tax of £34.3m for the full year to March 31, 2024, which exceeded its guided range of between £28m and £33m.

Revenues for the year reached £1.04bn which AO said was “as expected”, despite being down 9% from £1.14bn last year.

During the year, AO said its “strategic pivot” to focusing on profit and cash generation paid off and it remains a UK market leader in major domestic appliances with a 15% market share.

AO also said it has bolstered its position in the mobile phone market, following the acquisition of the intellectual property (IP) rights and websites of Affordable Mobiles and Buymobiles.net.

In terms of outlook, AO said that despite “ongoing macro-economic challenges” its objectives for the year ahead remain the same and it is “confident” in its ability to deliver double-digit revenue growth in 2025 and adjusted profit before tax of £36m to £41m.

AO founder and chief executive John Roberts said: “We have made good progress on our profit performance in FY24, which is a testament to the success of our strategic pivot to focusing on profit and cash generation.

“We are now a much simpler, more efficient business and are performing better than ever for customers, with excellent and sustainable unit economics.

“Our focus now is on delivering profitable top-line growth with an ambition for double-digit revenue growth in FY25.”

He added: “During the year, we passed the milestone of 500,000 Trustpilot reviews, with an increased Trust score of 4.8 out of 5. This ranks AO as the leading and most trusted UK retailer for the combination of volume and quality and is an output of the amazing service we deliver every day for customers at scale.

“None of this has happened by accident. All AOers have worked tirelessly to deliver this performance and I would like to thank them all.”