AO World reported earnings for the year ended 31 March on Thursday, which saw a swing to a full year loss after a fall in sales and higher costs.

Following the report, AO World shares gained 11%.

The company posted a pre-tax loss of £37.2 million from a profit of £20.2 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 6% year-on-year to £1.56 billion. Furthermore, the electrical retailer reported a basic loss per share of 6.33p.

Struggling to see why its shares have surged today.

 “The past 12 months has been a turbulent time for business and for retail in particular, and AO hasn’t been immune to those effects,” said AO’s founder and Chief Executive, John Roberts.

Looking ahead, AO said trading through the first quarter of FY23 has remained broadly in line with its expectations for the year.

Revenue is expected to be in the range of about £1bn to £1.25bn, and group adjusted EBITDA for the year in the range of £20m to £30m.

Finally, some positives for AO World.

Consumer Data:

However, are AO Worlds’ consumer metrics pointing higher?

AO World saw a significant uptrend from 2016 to 2021 and even reached its highest levels in January 2022. However, organic traffic has almost halved in a matter of 8 months. In addition, its shares plummeted by 60% in 2022.

Overall, there is little to be positive about AO World unless we were to see a drastic change in monthly traffic and it is able to fix its extreme costs.