Following today’s release of Currys’ figures for the 6 months ending 1 November 2025; Oliver Maddison, retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view: “Currys gained momentum in its H1, achieving 8.0% growth in group sales (6% on a currency-neutral basis), with the business performing better in the latter part of the half. H1 sales grew 5.6% in the UK & ROI, and the Nordic wing demonstrated strong growth of 11.4%, albeit against weak comparatives. AI-powered computers and gaming PCs were the key drivers in both markets as Currys gained from its strong offering of cutting-edge tech, while also benefiting from consumers making tech upgrades they had previously deferred. Profitability was entirely reliant on the retailer’s strong performance in the Nordics, where adjusted EBIT grew 94.4% thanks to improved sales, not chasing less profitable sales, and continued cost control. Meanwhile, Currys blamed the 17.4% decline in UK & ROI EBIT on government policies increasing labour costs. The results, together with a 0.75p interim dividend, were taken well by investors, sending Currys’ share price up approximately 10% this morning.
“Currys’ UK & ROI business continued to be driven by growth in recurring services (+11.4%) and B2B sales (+16%) as the retailer sought higher-margin revenue streams and soaked up a significant chunk of sales as rival electricals specialist AO shifted focus away from its B2B division. iD Mobile continues to be the star performer, seeing 21% growth in subscribers, and is on track to surpass 2.5m subscribers by the end of the year. While Currys’ services largely supplement its product revenues, it could use its services offer to drive further electricals sales. Here, it can draw lessons from AO leveraging its Five Star membership programme and interest-free credit offering to enable consumers to buy a new iPhone for £17/month over two years on a rolling basis via its innovative Switch24 programme.
“Despite a solid performance, Currys’ position in the UK & ROI market is nonetheless quite precarious: while 5.6% growth is nothing to sneeze at, it leaves something to be desired in comparison to AO’s 14.4% increase in its H1 to 30 September. Indeed, stripping away service revenues and B2B sales, GlobalData estimates that Currys’ B2C electricals sales grew by c.4%. This is growth that the likes of Argos and Very would be extremely envious of, but not the sort of performance needed to defend Currys’ number one spot from Amazon’s seemingly inevitable rise. Currys also can’t continue to count on services (iD Mobile key amongst them) to supplement softer electrical sales to consumers. Without further innovation, iD Mobile will likely face a substantial challenge from the impending launch of AO’s rival mobile network in combination with Switch24.”
