The frustration for investors in Currys is that a festive surge in the UK business is only enough to allow expectations to stand still given the effective power failure in its foreign business.
Currys’ overseas operations have largely been in the background until recently, doing quite nicely from an affluent customer base across the Scandinavian region.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said: “Competitors selling off excess stock at a discount, which in turn hit volumes and margins for Currys, was supposed to be a short-term issue but it appears to be having a longer lasting and deeper impact than previously thought.
“A remaining problem facing Currys in the UK is a lot of spend was pulled forward during the pandemic when there was a big incentive to upgrade consumer electronics in the home either for work or recreation purposes.
“Other drivers exist for the business – high energy costs are pushing people to buy newer, more efficient domestic appliances and the fact hybrid working is here to stay could act as a further catalyst for demand for better laptops and home printers.
“A record proportion of customers using store credit to purchase items is a concern given the risk of people being unable to stay on top of their debts in a recession.”
