Currys commits to price freeze as full year profits jump
Electrical retailer Currys committed to a price freeze on dozens of products today as it reported a jump in profits to £126m for the full year.
In its full-year results today, the firm said it had seen a surge in sales in-store across the group post-covid and reported pre-tax profits of £126m, up from £33m, as it boosted its margins to 2.7 per cent.
But boss Alex Baldock warned of the coming impact of a rising cost of living this morning and said the retailer would commit to keeping costs down to minimise the impact on consumers.
“A stronger business allows us to help customers through the cost of living crisis,” he said.
“Our well-established price promise means customers “won’t get it cheaper. Full stop” on all products and today we’re going even further with “2021 Price Lock”, our new price freeze on dozens of great products.”
Baldock said the firm was also adding a “12 month Pay Delay” on every purchase over £99 to help customers manage the cost of living.
Group sales at the retailer were flat year on year across the group, as growth in Currys international business was offset by the decline in UK & Ireland. Currys said sales growth had been tempered by a “very strong” 2020/21.
Analysts at City Index said the firm may now look to use its scale to snap up a bigger share of the market.
“With inflation yet to peak and recession fears growing, a pullback in consumer spending looks likely but Currys believes this will present an opportunity to leverage its scale and poach market share from rivals, although that will do little to alleviate concerns about growth in the short-term,” said Joshua Warner, Market Analyst at City Index.