Currys has warned that supplies of fans and air conditioning units are “tight” after the UK’s latest heatwave sparked a surge in demand for cooling products.
Chief executive Alex Baldock said fans and air conditioning units had been “flying off the shelves” during June’s hot weather, leaving retailers racing to secure more stock ahead of another expected heatwave.
Fan sales were up nearly 3,000 per cent over the most recent heatwave weekend compared with the previous week, while air conditioning sales jumped 330 per cent.
Baldock said Currys was “working incredibly hard” to maintain healthy stock levels, but admitted supply remained “pretty tight”.
“We are benefiting from being number one in the market and if anyone is going to have it we are going to have it,” he told The Guardian.
The comments came as Currys reported a stronger full-year performance, with group revenue rising six per cent to £9.25bn in the year to 2 May.
Adjusted pre-tax profit increased 18 per cent to £191m, while group like-for-like sales rose four per cent.
In the UK and Ireland, like-for-like revenue climbed three per cent, with Currys pointing to market share gains, growth in services and stronger credit sales.
The retailer said recurring services revenue rose seven per cent, while credit sales increased 10 per cent to £1.2bn and iD Mobile subscribers climbed 18 per cent to 2.6m.
Baldock said trading since May had remained strong, helped by the football World Cup and hot weather, which had boosted sales of large TVs, barbecues, beer pumps and hot tubs.
Sales of 90-inch TVs have more than doubled, according to the retailer.
However, Baldock also warned that inflation was likely to feed through into electricals prices, driven partly by global pressure on silicon chip supply and rising demand from AI data centres.
He said Currys had secured supplies of computers and mobile phones until at least September, but added that the retailer was working to use its scale to protect customers from price rises where possible.
The update marks Baldock’s final set of annual results before he leaves Currys to become chief executive of Boots later this year.
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