Online electrical retailer AO World has reported full year group operating losses of £12 million but total revenue rose by 17 per cent to £701.2million.

The company says the figures reflect trading losses incurred in Germany and the Netherlands.

In the UK total revenue was up 12.7 per cent to £629.7million demonstrating further market share gains.

The company said: "The challenging trading environment we saw in the UK in the second half of last year has continued into the start of our new financial year."

Accordingly, the company expects its UK Q1 growth rate to slow significantly year on year, but overall to fall within the range of market expectations.

Commenting on the results, Steve Caunce, AO chief executive officer said: "It's been another year of great progress for AO with the UK seeing improved profitability and we have continued to build a solid platform for future growth.

"In Europe, we opened our new regional distribution centre in Bergheim which will enable us to scale our European operations profitably in the years to come and have improved our gross margin, building on our relationship with suppliers.

"Our customer service metrics remain exceptional across all of the countries in which we operate because we make it our mission to care more and we continue to innovate to create the best customer experience for tomorrow. This has helped us to continue to gain market share in our categories and countries, notwithstanding the challenging trading environment in the UK."

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