Marks Electrical had reported that sales grew 25% in the six months to September 30, 2023, making continued market share gains across the UK even against a challenging market.
The retailer said sales were strong across all product lines, but it saw a particular stand-out performance in televisions (+71%), washer-dryers (+74%) and American-style fridge-freezers (+36%).
The company also saw rapid growth in its new next-day integrated, gas, electric and television installation services, with over 7,000 installation orders in the first half, versus 2,500 in the prior year, a growth rate of 180%.
Mark Smithson, chief executive of Marks Electrical, said: “We’ve built on the good momentum delivered at the start FY24, with sales growth of 24.8% against a major domestic appliances and consumer electronics market that is broadly flat in the first half of our financial year.
“Our strategic decision to add in-house installation services to our offering has strengthened the group’s premium service proposition, enabling us to develop a market leading installation offering, growing market share and driving revenue growth.”
Mr Smithson said the launch of this service, alongside the well documented industry-wide pressures regarding wage inflation, impacted the retailer’s H1 margin, with the pressure on distribution and installation costs being higher than expected.
He continued: “We remain focused on our full-year targets and expect margin pressure to ease in H2 as we benefit from improved operating leverage during the peak trading period.”
