Marks Electrical delivers record FY revenues

(Sharecast News) - Electrical retailer Marks Electrical Group said on Tuesday that it had delivered record full-year revenues in the 12 months ended 31 March, driven by increased market share. Marks Electrical said revenues were up 16.9% year-on-year at £114.3m, more than double the revenue it had achieved in the year prior to listing, while adjusted underlying earnings were seen at approximately £5.0m.

The AIM-listed group also noted it had made further improvements in working capital and inventory turn during the year, helping the company to achieve a closing net cash position of £7.8m, taking into account strategic investments in vehicles, equipment, facilities and systems.

Marks Electrical also highlighted that it had secured an increased market share in the major domestic appliances and consumer electronics markets and was focused on continuing to build its national presence and scale, leading it to make the "strategic decision" to leave the Euronics buying group, enable the firm to establish "closer, direct relationships" with its manufacturer partners, which will provide further opportunity to drive growth and margin.

Chief executive Mark Smithson said: "As explained in our January trading update, in the current trading environment consumers remain highly price-conscious, which given our premium focus, continues to have an adverse impact on our average order value, resulting in customer order volumes growing faster than revenue. This impact will limit our ability for margin expansion in the short-term, when taking into account the relatively fixed cost of delivery.

"Despite this, we are very pleased with the growth in our order volumes and new customer acquisitions during the period and the strong growth we have seen in early April, giving us confidence that our fundamental strategy of continued profitable market share gains and excellent customer service will help us in delivering further growth."

As of 1000 BST, Marks Electrical shares were down 1.56% at 69.40p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com