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(Alliance News) - Online household appliances retailer AO World PLC swung to a interim profit from a loss a year before, it said Tuesday, after closing its Dutch operation and recording strong revenue growth in the UK and Germany.
AO World said pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 was GBP18.3 million, versus a loss of GBP5.9 million a year before.
Total revenue, excluding its shuttered Netherlands operation, rose 58% to GBP717.0 million from GBP454.9 million in the six months period. Revenue was up by 54% in the UK and by 85% in Germany. The AOL.nl website was closed during the quarter that ended March 31.
AO World also reported an increase in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, to GBP29 million from GBP1.0 million in the same period of 2019.
Since the end of the half-year, the company said its annual rate of growth in October exceeded that of the first half, amid increased capacity and stock.
AO World said that the growth across the company was due to "resilient operational performance; ongoing significant investment in our people and infrastructure ensures we are well equipped to serve the step change in online penetration."
Founder & Chief Executive John Roberts said: "This has been a half year like no other. I believe our market has changed as a result, forever. We have grown share across all categories and the results we're announcing today give huge confidence that our business is well set for the future to cement the changes. Our growth rates have increased from Q2 to Q3 as we unlock capacity constraints."
Looking ahead, Roberts added that the company has taken "huge strides forward on its commitment to fix all the fundamentals of its European business", and it now has a "profitable platform from which to accelerate its growth in Germany and beyond".
Shares in AO World were down 4.5% at 400.55 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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