Currys Shares Rally As UK & Ireland Business Offsets International Weakness

Currys (LON: CURY) shares jumped in early Wednesday trading after the company said its UK & Ireland continue to strengthen, compensating for its weak international performance.

In the ten weeks ended January 7, Currys revealed that UK & Ireland like-for-like revenue declined 5%, but it delivered better than forecast profits driven by gross margin increases and continued cost savings.

Currys added that sales were strong in domestic appliances and mobile, but that was offset by weaker consumer electronics and computing.

In its international markets, Currys like-for-like revenue fell 7%, with profits below forecast due to a Nordics market-driven sales slowdown and continued pressure on its gross margin.

Sales declined in all categories in its international markets, except for small appliances.

“We've delivered a strong Peak performance in the UK&I, growing profits again through resilient sales, increasing gross margins (not least through record Services adoption) and strong cost discipline. Our transformation is visibly succeeding,” commented Alex Baldock, Currys Group Chief Executive.

He added: “Internationally, it remains tough and we continue to face into intense, but temporary, market pressures. We're not simply waiting for the external environment to improve, of course. We've already reduced stock levels and stepped up our measures to increase margins and reduce costs.”

Currys shares are up more than 9% at the time of writing, regaining the majority of its losses accrued in Tuesday's session when it declined over 8%, closing at 59.95p. It is currently trading around the 65.55p mark.

Currys maintained its current year guidance of profit before tax between £100 million and £125m.