Currys shareholders will hope for good news when the company publishes its final update before Christmas next week.
Last month, the white goods and electricals retailer said the festive season would be ‘robust’ and demand for tech gadgets was booming. But shares have given up ground in recent weeks and are 20 per cent below the 2021 peak reached in April.
Currys releases interim results for the six months to the end of October on Wednesday having previously signalled it was on course to make full-year profits of £161m.
Analysts will be on the lookout for any deviation from this number. And they will pore over trading figures since then – particularly how Currys fared over Black Friday weekend – and its outlook for Christmas.
Updates on supply chain disruption and the impact of the Omicron variant and Covid restrictions will also attract attention.
Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Matt Britzman said: ‘We’ll be keeping a close eye on whether profits are still in line with expectations.
‘The bar has been set high, with half-year sales up 15 per cent compared to pre-pandemic numbers. And the group’s expecting a ‘robust peak trading season’ over Christmas. We’d like to know if early indications are still positive on that front.’
Currys more than doubled its online sales throughout the pandemic and in the six months to October sales overall were running 15 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Its mostly online rival AO World last month warned of shortages over Christmas because of supply chain disruption, which sent shares tumbling. Currys will aim to keep its washing machine, laptop and television sales on track to avoid AO World’s fate.
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