Marks Electrical has lowered its full year profit guidance despite higher sales in its Q3 and growth in market share.
The online retailer said that this was due to a challenging trading environment “where consumers remain highly price-conscious”, which impacted its peak trading period.
In the three months to 31 December, Marks saw revenue growth of 17.8 per cent to £35.1 million, which meant that sales in the nine months to December were up 22 per cent to £88.9 million. However, the company said these figures did not increase to the levels it expected.
As a result, it now expects its full year revenue to be in the range of £115-118 million with EBITDA in the range of £5-6 million.
“Going forward, we remain cautious on the speed of recovery in consumer buying patterns, which we expect to temporarily impact the recovery of our gross product margin,” the company said in its latest trading update.
Marks did report of increased market share in the Major Domestic Appliances and Consumer Electronics markets.
Chief Executive Officer, Mark Smithson, said: “Whilst I am personally frustrated about our expected margin progression in the second half, I remain confident about our long-term growth prospects and continue to be impressed by our ability to deliver market share gains profitably, against a fiercely competitive backdrop, whilst maintaining the highest levels of customer service standards in the industry.”
