Currys capped Alex Baldock’s final set of results as chief executive with an 18% rise in annual profit, a doubled dividend and a fresh £50m share buyback.
Adjusted pre-tax profit reached £191m in the year to 2 May, with group revenue up 6% to £9.3bn. Free cash flow rose 5% to £157m, leaving the electricals retailer with net cash of £176m even after £74m of shareholder returns and £82m of pension contributions.
The UK and Ireland delivered like-for-like sales growth of 3% and adjusted operating profit of £158m, with Currys gaining 60 basis points of market share in a market that shrank over the year. Growth came from recurring services revenue, up 7%, credit sales of £1.2bn and iD Mobile, which added 18% more subscribers to reach 2.6m.
The Nordics were the standout performer, with adjusted operating profit up 26% on a currency-neutral basis to £97m as consumer sentiment across the region improved on the back of easing inflation and lower interest rates.
The board has proposed a final dividend of 2.25p, taking the full-year payout to 3.0p, double last year’s, with total shareholder returns of around £85m planned for the current year.
“Currys has gone from short circuiting to shareholder returns. The company has rewired to the extent that it’s now handing money back to shareholders, with a share buyback programme and doubled dividend,” said Duncan Ferris, Investment Writer at Freetrade.
Baldock hands over to Nordics boss Fredrik Tønnesen in August, who joined the business on the shop floor more than 20 years ago and has more than tripled operating profits in the region. Baldock said there was “much more in the tank”, pointing to B2B and services as the bigger prizes ahead, and that trading in the early weeks of the new financial year had been very solid, with the group comfortable with market expectations.
Alex Baldock, Group Chief Executive, said: “Our performance continues to strengthen. Profits and cash flow are healthily up, supported by a balance sheet that has never been stronger, even after growing shareholder returns.”
“Currys is trending in the right direction on every dimension that matters. Colleague engagement is among the top 10% of global businesses, customers are saying they’re happier (with record satisfaction) and showing they are, as we grew share and extended our lead as market #1. Top line and bottom line, products and Services, the UK&I and the Nordics: all are in growth.”