Angling Direct (ANG) , a specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer, announced unaudited financial results for H1 2024 ended July 31 2023.
Revenues increased by 11.4% to £43.3m, including 11.3% higher retail sales. Like-for-like store sales increased by 4.9%, underpinned by improved conversion, and online sales grew 8.3% with strong average transaction value growth.
In Europe, sales grew by 39.9% with online sales key in Germany, up by 61.5%. EBTIDA loss for Europe reduced by 27.2% to £0.5m. Meanwhile, UK EBITDA increased by 24.1% to £2.8m.
Gross margin increased 50 bps with progress in both the UK and Europe. Group pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA growth was 26.6% to £2.3m (45.7% excluding cyber recoveries from FY222).
Angling Direct finished the half with a robust balance sheet, including net cash of £17.6m as of July 31 2023, up from £14.1m on January 31.
Operationally, the fishing company launched MyAD in the UK, a loyalty programme that attracted 110k members from launch in June to period end on July 31. Gross profit on higher-margin own brand products grew by 15.7%, both through the launch of the new brand "Discover" as well as the company's existing Advanta brand. During the half, Angling Direct continued its new store rollout with new locations in Cardiff (its first location outside England) and Goole.
View from Vox
A strong set of results from Angling Direct with robust growth across the board and a strong balance sheet at period-end. Sales growth of 11.4% against a challenging consumer backdrop was underpinned by resilient retail and online performance in the UK and Europe. In the UK, total sales jumped 10.1% as the company launched its loyalty scheme and signed up 110k members in only 2 months.
Likewise in Europe, Angling Direct recorded 39.9% sales growth in H1 year-on-year, validating its ambitious expansion strategy. A comfortable cash balance of £17.6m should ensure expansion continues, as Angling Direct expressed confidence that full-year results will be in line with market expectations following strong August and September trading. Shares gained 6% on the results.
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