Today’s news in brief-27/6/24

Currys reported a 10% rise in adjusted profit-before-tax to £118m for the year ending 27 April 2024, despite a 2% drop in like-for-like revenue in the UK and Ireland and a 16% decrease in adjusted EBIT to £142m. The company attributed its improved EBIT, which was up over £2m when excluding a £30m one-off mobile revaluation cost from the previous year, to underlying gross margin improvements and cost savings offsetting the sales decline.

Halfords experienced an 18.3% decline in pre-tax profits to £36.1m for the year ending 29 March 2024, attributed to lower market volumes in cycling and consumer tyres. Despite this, the company saw a 7.9% increase in revenue to £1.6bn and a 5% growth in like-for-like sales. Notably, Autocentres group revenue rose by 17.6%, and underlying EBIT from total operations reached £13.8m, a significant improvement from the previous year.

Quiz renewed its £4m bank facility for another year amid weakened UK sales due to ongoing cost-of-living pressures. The fashion retailer reported net borrowings of £1.6m and total liquidity headroom of £2.4m. Revenues for the year ending 31 March 2024 were £13.8m, down £1.7m from the previous year. Despite the decline in UK online traffic, Quiz saw a 12% increase in demand for its products in international markets and maintained comparable sales in its stores.

Watches of Switzerland reported an 11% decline in adjusted EBITDA amid a 2% rise in group revenues to £1.5bn for the 52 weeks ending 28 April 2024. US sales increased by 11% to £692m, while UK and Europe sales dropped by 5% due to macroeconomic conditions. Luxury watch sales, representing 87% of group revenues, rose by 3%, but luxury jewellery sales fell by 13%. The company opened additional multi-brand showrooms and mono-brand boutiques in the UK.

Moonpig saw a 6.6% increase in revenues to £341.1m for the year ending 30 April 2024, with adjusted profit-before-tax rising from £55.4m to £58.2m. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 13.5% to £95.5m, driven by revenue growth and improved gross margins. New customer sales returned to growth in the second half of the year, with 89% of revenues coming from existing customers. The Moonpig Plus subscription scheme exceeded expectations with over half a million members.