AO World plc Trading Statement (6309W)

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RNS Number : 6309W

AO World plc

20 August 2020

20 August 2020

AO WORLD PLC

TRADING UPDATE

AO World plc (the "Company"), a leading European online electrical retailer, is holding its Annual General Meeting* today and issues the following trading update.

Trading

The trading momentum announced at the time of our preliminary results in July has continued and the significant change in demand for AO's products and services has been maintained. As a result, in the four months ended 31 July 2020 we have recorded strong year-on-year revenue growth in the UK of 58.9% to GBP401.3m and of 91.5% to EUR74.3m in Germany(1) .

Operationally, our bu siness continues to support our customers at a time when social distancing and continued changes to official Covid-19 guidance become the new normal. We have made investments to strengthen our teams and our infrastructure to ensure the business remains resilient and that we maintain our high levels of customer service during on-going periods of strong demand.

Outlook

The demand for AO's products and services has been sustained since competitor stores started to re-open at the beginning of July. This reaffirms our belief that this is a structural shift in demand where customers have found a better way to shop the electricals category. We are investing in our capacity and capability to serve customers ever more in the AO way.

We remain cognisant of the significant level of economic and customer uncertainty driven by both Covid-19 and the prospect of Brexit in December and the impact this may have on demand for electricals in the medium-term.

We look forward to updating further in our Interim Results currently scheduled for release in November 2020.

*As previously advised, in order to protect the health and safety of our shareholders and employees, this year's Annual General Meeting is being run as a closed meeting and shareholders are not permitted to attend in person.

(1) excludes sales derived from AO.nl, our Netherlands website which was closed during the prior year

For further information, please contact:

 
 AO World plc             Tel: [phone] 
  John Roberts             [e-mail] 
  Mark Higgins 
 Tulchan Communications 
  Will Smith 
  James Macey White 
  William Booth 
 

About AO

AO World plc, headquartered in Bolton and listed on the London Stock Exchange, is an online electrical retailer, with a mission to be the global destination for electricals. Our strategy is to create value by focussing on being brilliant for our customers to make AO the destination for everything they need, in the simplest and easiest way, when buying electricals.

We sell major and small domestic appliances and consumer electronics in the UK and Germany and deliver 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.

In the UK, AO operates in four main categories (Major Domestic Appliances "MDA", Small Domestic Appliances "SDA", Audio Visual "AV" and Consumer Electronics "CE"). Following the acquisition of Mobile Phones Direct Limited in December 2018, AO has significantly broadened its mobile phone offering.

AO launched in Germany in October 2014 with MDA and now sells Floorcare, AV and SDA categories.

AO also has a majority equity stake in AO Recycling, a WEEE processing facility, allowing AO to ensure its customers' waste is dealt with responsibly in the UK.

Cautionary statement

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements (including beliefs or opinions) with respect to the operations, performance and financial condition of the Group. These statements are made in good faith and are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. By their nature, future events and circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from those anticipated. Except as is required by the Listing Rules, Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and applicable laws, no undertaking is given to update the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this document should be construed as a profit forecast or an invitation to deal in the securities of the Company. This announcement has been prepared for the Group as a whole and therefore gives greater emphasis to those matters which are significant to AO World plc and its subsidiary undertakings when viewed as a whole .

ENDS

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August 20, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)