Currys hailed “a positive start to the year” as the summer of sport helped to boost sales as shoppers refreshed their tech stack ahead of the Euros football tournament and Olympics.
The electricals specialist reported a 5% rise in UK and Ireland sales for the 17 weeks to 24 August, which it attributed to “encouraging” early adoption of AI computing products as well as England’s performance in the Euros.
Currys said mobile was continuing to perform strongly, with its phone business iD Mobile reaching almost 2m subscribers.
Across the group, sales rose 2% as the strong UK and Ireland performance helped to offset the 2% decline in the retailer’s Nordic arm.
Looking ahead, it insisted guidance for the year remained unchanged, and that it was confident in its expectations for profit.
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Currys CEO Alex Baldock said: “Trading is going well, strengthening our confidence in growing profit and free cash flow again this year.
“New AI-enabled computers are bringing excitement and innovation to customers, who are coming to our stores to learn more about the technology, helping us take almost 50% share of the total laptop market.”
“Along with mobile and B2B, AI product launches have contributed to an encouraging start to the year in the UK&I, as we gain market share in an improving consumer environment.”
The executive also noted: “Across the group, we’re continuing to target growth in high margin, recurring revenue services and solutions.
“Currys is well set for our important peak trading period and beyond.”
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