Today we announced our financial results for the year ended 31 March 2020 (“FY20”).
John Roberts, AO Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said:
“I’m pleased that we have made substantial progress, closing the year in good shape after getting AO fit and focused on the future. Covid-19 has accelerated a shift in customer behaviour towards online shopping and we now need to cement that change.
In short, we must drive forward so those customers never look back.
At the start of the financial year, we went back to basics, bringing clarity and leadership to the fundamentals of our business. AO’s model and vertically integrated ecosystem is a structural advantage when properly leveraged. The whole business is now fixed on delighting our customers, driving innovation and creating growth. As a result, we made significant headway against our four priorities of double digit MDA growth in the UK, becoming cash generative13 as a group, accelerating our journey to profitability in Germany and operating as One AO.
That progress ensured that we were in the best possible shape when Covid-19 hit in the final weeks of the financial year. Investing to make sure our operations were safe so that our customers and people were protected allowed AO to be a proud lifeline for customers during lockdown. Many experienced AO for the first time and were delighted with what they found.
AO now has the opportunity to become a new habit that lasts – by delivering brilliant service for customers. In other words, turning those lockdown learnings into lifelong change.
This has not been an easy journey and I’m grateful both to our teams across the UK and Germany for their exceptional work during an extraordinary time and also to our partners for their continued support.
Looking ahead, there is a huge amount of uncertainty but the values and principles that guide our thinking have positioned us well for the opportunities and challenges that are to come.”
To view further details please click here or to view our Q&A video please click here