Marks Electrical reaches new full-year revenue record

Online electricals retailer Marks Electrical reported record-breaking full-year revenue of £97.8m in its preliminary results on Wednesday, up 21.5% from the prior year's revenue of £80.5m.

The AIM-traded company said adjusted EBITDA totalled £7.5m for the 12 months ended 31 March, making for a slight increase from the £7.2m it reported in the 2022 financial year.

It achieved a margin of 7.7% on its adjusted EBITDA, and recorded a statutory profit before tax of £6.4m, significantly surpassing the prior year's figure of £3.8m.

Marks Electrical reported free cash flow of £7.1m, indicating a free cash flow margin of 7.3% - a slight increase from last year's margin of 7.1%.

Despite a minor decrease in adjusted earnings per share from 5.01p in to 4.82p, the firm said it still achieved a solid statutory earnings per share of 4.91p, up from 3.22p.

Marks Electrical said it maintained a robust and debt-free balance sheet, with closing net cash of £10m making for a substantial increase from the prior year's £3.9m.

That financial strength supported the board’s proposal to distribute a final dividend of 0.66p per share, making for a total dividend payout for the 2023 period of 0.96p per share, up from 0.67p.

Looking ahead, Marks Electrical said it optimistic around its current trading and future outlook.

The company reported strong trading momentum in the first two months of the 2024 fiscal period, with revenue growth exceeding 30% year-on-year.

“We delivered another strong performance over the year, with revenue growth of 21.5%, which was particularly pleasing when compared to a prior year comparative of 44% and a difficult economic backdrop in which both the major domestic appliances and consumer electronics markets have declined year-on-year,” said chief executive officer Mark Smithson.

“As we look to the 2024 financial year, we believe that our current market share continues to provide significant scope and opportunity for growth, regardless of the economic backdrop.”

Smithson said the company saw continued growth of over 30% in April and May, and a “very strong” start to June.

“We are focused on maintaining our performance management discipline on revenue, profit and cash in order continue to demonstrate our superior proposition and become the UK's leading premium electrical retailer.”

At 0903 BST, shares in Marks Electrical Group were up 3.66% at 94.33p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.