Currys UK sales growth accelerated to 6% in the 17 weeks to mid-September, as demand for large-screen TVs, fans and air conditioning units helped the electricals retailer outperform a sluggish wider market over the summer.
Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland, a measure that strips out the effect of store openings and closures to give a cleaner picture of trading performance, rose from 3% in the previous six months. Across the whole Currys group, which includes a Nordics arm, total sales grew 7% over the same 17-week period, with the Nordics business posting 9% growth.
World Cup and heatwaves drive Currys UK sales growth
New chief executive Fredrik Tonnesen said the group outperformed a more difficult wider electronics market, which he suggested would have shrunk without the boost from summer heatwaves and the World Cup, held in June and July. Tonnesen took over from Alex Baldock on 3 August.
Earlier in the summer, Currys had flagged that the World Cup was driving strong sales of what it called “supersize” TVs, beer pumps, and BBQs. Since May, retailers across the board have also seen strong demand for fans and air conditioning units as searing hot weather persisted across the UK and Ireland.
Tonnesen, who previously headed up the Currys Nordics business, said: ‘Currys has maintained its strong momentum. Across the group we saw growth in both stores and online, with new categories, business-to-business and services all growing strongly. In the UK and Ireland, we gained share in every category, in a market that was flat even with the help of the World Cup and summer heatwaves.’
Full-year profit target on track
Currys made the trading update at its annual general meeting for shareholders on Thursday. The group said it remains on track to meet full-year expectations for underlying pre-tax profits of £199 million, up from £191 million in 2025-26.
Analysts responded positively to the numbers. Wayne Brown at Panmure Liberum said: ‘Currys have reported a very strong update, with sales performance accelerating in both UK and Ireland and Nordics.’
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, added: ‘Momentum has been maintained and the group gained market share in each of its categories, despite a flat wider market which even the World Cup and summer heatwaves could not rescue.’
The contrast between Currys’ own performance and the wider market is the thread running through this update. The retailer is, in effect, arguing that it took a larger slice of a pie that barely grew at all over the summer. Gaining share ‘in every category’ in those conditions is the specific claim Tonnesen is making, and it is the number investors will scrutinise most closely as the company heads into its autumn and winter trading period, where consumer electronics demand is traditionally strongest.
With the full-year underlying pre-tax profit target of £199 million still in view, and Currys UK sales growth running at double the rate of the previous half-year, the retailer enters that critical period with its management projecting confidence about the year ahead.
