* Expects demand for online shopping to continue
* FY adjusted core earnings jump 53.6%
* Shares rise as much as 7%
(Adds CEO quote, outlook, background)
By Tanishaa Nadkar
July 14 (Reuters) - Online electricals retailer AO World
on Tuesday reported a jump of more than 50% in annual
core profit and a rise in sales, sending shares in the British
company to two-year highs.
Printers, breadmakers and Nintendo Switch video consoles
were in demand, it said, even after British stores began to
reopen.
"We haven't seen a material impact from stores reopening and
of course, some stores will never reopen," CEO John Roberts told
reporters.
Operational changes during the lockdown had raised staffing
costs, however, and it warned that a fall in consumer confidence
as recession sets in this year may lead to delayed purchases of
big-ticket items.
AO sells washing machines, fridges, cookers, televisions as
well as mobile phones.
Adjusted core earnings jumped by 53.6% to 19.6 million
pounds ($24.57 million) on sales up 15.9% to 1.05 billion pounds
for the year ended March 31, it said.
AO shares jumped as much as 7% to a two-year high at the
market open but were flat by 0901 GMT.
Lockdowns have buoyed online shopping, prompting Morgan
Stanley to nearly double its forecast for U.S. online sales
growth to 25% this year.
The UK's Ocado said on Tuesday it was confident
that the surge in online grocery shopping due to the pandemic
would continue.
Online fashion retailers Zalando and Boohoo
also expect to top market expectations for sales and
profit.
AO, which launched in Germany in 2014, said it continues to
expect to achieve positive core earnings there on revenue of
around 250 million euros ($284 million) this year.
($1 = 0.7976 pounds)
($1 = 0.8800 euros)
(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; editing by Devika
Syamnath and Jason Neely)
Ocado (OCDO)