News

Major tackle retailer Angling Direct has seen a 10 per cent rise in revenue – to £81.7 million – despite a challenging consumer landscape and disruption to fishing caused by named storm events in the final weeks of its fiscal year.

Resilient UK store sales – up 7.6 per cent to £44.4m, were underpinned by stronger conversion and new store openings in 2023, including Cardiff and Goole in April, increasing the group’s store footprint from 45 to 47.

These new stores, alongside those stores opened in the previous year, contributed £3.6m of sales in the year. Like for like store sales were £40.7m, representing 3.1 per cent growth and demonstrating strength against the previous fiscal year, which saw a flat growth rate.

Total online sales increased 13.5 per cent to £37.2m, up from £32.8m, driven in part by a 36.3 per cent rise in European online sales to £4.3m, as the company continues to develop this area.

UK online sales rose by 11.1 per cent, driven by strong average transaction value growth and reflecting increasing engagement in the company’s loyalty and repeat purchase membership model, MyAD, boasting more than 220,000 members at the period end after launching in June.

CEO Steve Crowe said: “Angling Direct has continued to gain market share in the UK and Europe and we believe there are significant further growth opportunities in both markets.

“The group will continue to invest in its digital and physical footprint in the UK to capture further market share growth, leveraging its strong balance sheet to ensure it is competitively placed as consumer confidence returns.

“The European market creates a significantly larger addressable market but remains highly competitive, driven by even more intense price competition.

“Despite this, the group delivered strong growth, whilst retaining pricing discipline, leading to further market share gains, which provides the board with confidence that its European strategy remains appropriate. In January 2024 we committed to our first European store in Utrecht in The Netherlands. The store is scheduled to open during the spring fishing season.”