Currys sales improve as shoppers ‘chase deals’ with credit
Currys has reported improved sales as customers in Britain increasingly turn to loans to pay for energy-saving items such as air fryers and heat-pump tumble dryers amid the cost of living crisis.
The UK’s biggest electrical retailer said cost cuts and a focus on promoting the sale of more profitable goods and services had improved its margins.
However, it added that price inflation was causing further uncertainty for its future earnings and said it expects to report a decline in full-year profits when it releases its annual results in July.
The company’s chief executive said Currys had benefited from a higher take-up of consumer credit that allows customers to pay off their purchases over a longer period of time, as well as repair and trade-in services, as households seek to stretch their budgets.
“We’re seeing consumers lean more on credit to afford the technology that they need,” Alex Baldock told analysts and investors on Monday morning.
He said Currys customers “are certainly chasing a deal and they’re looking for help with the affordability of their tech, with mechanics like trading. Consumers are concerned to see their expensive technology last longer, which is where our big repair business has had another strong year.”
Baldock attributed the trends to rampant inflation, which stands at 10.1%. “The big picture on the UK consumer is that they remain hard-pressed by the cost of living crisis,” he said.
“That’s playing through into relatively depressed demand for discretionary and big ticket products, and that’s placed downward pressure on the technology market. And that hasn’t changed.”
The retailer said sales in the UK and Ireland had improved over the past two months, but from a very low base. In March and April, customers
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