// Currys earnings will come in ahead of guidance as its core UK and Ireland business trades ahead of expectations
// UK and Ireland like-for-likes were down 7% for the year – an improvement on the 10% decline in the first half
Currys has raised its profit outlook for 2022-23 after better-than-expected trading in the UK in the final two months of the year.
The electricals retailer had previously lowered its guidance in March due to the weak performance of its Nordics business, but said today it now expected to report a year to April 29 adjusted pre-tax profit of £110 to £120m.
This is ahead of previous guidance of around £104m, but down from the £186m made in 2021-22.
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The group said like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland division fell 4% in its second half, having been down 10% in the first.
Overall group sales for the full year were down 7%.
Currys said that the improvement in UK and Ireland profits was “driven by continued gross margin improvements and management focus on cost efficiencies”.
Meanwhile, the retailer’s international business is expected to deliver EBIT “materially lower” than last year, hit by a price war in the Nordics where full-year like-for-likes were down 10%.
The uplift was driven by the core UK and Ireland division, which is expected to generate a full-year adjusted EBIT increase of more than 40% year on year helped by a better-than-expected performance in the final two months of the year.
In March, Currys appointed a new regional chief for its troubled Nordic business as it looks to improve the division’s performance amid fierce competition in the region.
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