Deep-Dive · Company Intelligence
Samsung UK turned £3.55 billion in sales into a healthier bottom line — but nearly all of its cash vanished.
Origin
Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited is the principal UK and Ireland distributor of Samsung-branded consumer electronics, home appliances, and technology products. It also provides related IT and telecommunications services, operating across retail and wholesale channels with revenue concentrated in the UK and Ireland (95% of £3.55bn total).
At a glance
Timeline
Big year-on-year change
Net assets fell 23% — from £727.7m to £563.7m.
Big year-on-year change
Operating profit fell 28% — from £177.4m to £128.4m.
Big year-on-year change
Operating profit grew 42% — from £124.7m to £177.4m.
Where our data starts
Earliest analysed accounts: FY2020. 15 years of earlier trading history are not in scope — this report pulls the most recent filed accounts from Companies House.
Name changed
Previously incorporated as Samsung Europe PLC.
Company founded
Samsung Electronics (Uk) Limited was registered at Companies House on 1995-07-28.
02 · Financials
Revenue, profitability and operating growth over time
| Metric | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £3.32bn | £3.57bn | £3.67bn | £3.62bn | £3.55bn | ▼ 2% |
| Cost of sales | -£2.67bn | -£2.80bn | -£2.84bn | -£2.82bn | -£2.75bn | ▲ 3% |
| Gross profit | £654.3m | £765.9m | £828.4m | £804.5m | £801.6m | — 0% |
| Other operating income | £3.7m | £8.3m | £2.0m | £5.6m | £5.1m | ▼ 10% |
| Administrative expenses | -£533.2m | -£596.6m | -£650.2m | -£641.2m | -£636.7m | ▲ 1% |
| Operating profit | £124.7m | £177.4m | £128.4m | £120.1m | £116.1m | ▼ 3% |
| Finance income | £7.5m | £6.1m | £8.9m | £23.4m | £39.2m | ▲ 67% |
| Finance costs | -£6.5m | -£6.7m | -£10.5m | -£8.2m | -£9.6m | ▼ 17% |
| Profit before tax | £125.7m | £176.7m | £126.8m | £135.3m | £145.7m | ▲ 8% |
| Tax | -£21.6m | -£33.3m | -£23.0m | -£19.2m | -£43.1m | ▼ 125% |
| Profit after tax | £104.1m | £143.5m | £103.9m | £116.1m | £102.6m | ▼ 12% |
| EBITDA (memo) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Metric | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intangible assets | £898k | £591k | £335k | £125k | £6k | ▼ 95% |
| Tangible assets | £39.3m | £49.4m | £43.5m | £41.8m | £36.5m | ▼ 13% |
| Investments | £18.0m | £18.0m | £18.0m | £18.0m | £18.0m | — 0% |
| Total fixed assets | £179.7m | £192.1m | £192.8m | £213.1m | £189.3m | ▼ 11% |
| Stocks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debtors | £940.3m | £964.4m | £1.12bn | £887.3m | £1.14bn | ▲ 28% |
| Cash at bank | £486.0m | £401.7m | £80.4m | £54.3m | £4.6m | ▼ 92% |
| Total current assets | £1.69bn | £1.62bn | £1.62bn | £1.56bn | £1.54bn | ▼ 2% |
| Trade creditors | -£1.07bn | -£1.04bn | -£970.2m | -£1.09bn | -£942.2m | ▲ 13% |
| Bank loans (current) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total current liabilities | £1.12bn | £1.09bn | £1.01bn | £1.13bn | £981.7m | ▼ 13% |
| Net current assets | £566.9m | £527.6m | £617.9m | £435.1m | £555.3m | ▲ 28% |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £746.6m | £719.6m | £810.7m | £648.2m | £744.6m | ▲ 15% |
| Bank loans (non-current) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Long-term liabilities | £94.0m | £87.1m | £82.9m | £84.4m | £80.0m | ▼ 5% |
| Provisions | £9.3m | £7.9m | £6.4m | £6.5m | £7.6m | ▲ 16% |
| Net assets | £652.6m | £632.5m | £727.7m | £563.7m | £664.6m | ▲ 18% |
| Total equity | £652.6m | £632.5m | £727.7m | £563.7m | £664.6m | ▲ 18% |
03 · Risk
Working capital + cash
Four numbers that tell you how stretched the balance sheet is today. The line under each is in plain English — what the number means for the business, not what to do about it.
Key audit matters
Identified by KPMG LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2024 audit.
Identified by KPMG LLP as a key audit matter — an area requiring significant judgement or specialist attention during the FY2024 audit.
Contingent liabilities
Principal risks
If product life cycles are not managed correctly, overstocking and obsolescence could occur; mitigated by clear launch life cycles and close monitoring of sell-in and sell-out.
Inability to adapt to changes in technology requirements could lead to poor demand; mitigated by the parent company's policy of market leadership through R&D investment.
Ongoing conflict in Ukraine is expected to continue causing negative impacts to global supply chains and economy including rising costs and cost of living pressures; the company continues to monitor and prepare mitigation plans.
Screening status
Notes to the accounts
Purchase Of Marketing Services And Other Services; Recharges For Support Services; Product Sales
Purchase Of Marketing And Other Services
Purchase Of It Services And Fixed Assets, Logistics Services, Marketing Services And Other Services; Product Sales To Related Party
Recharges For Support Services
Purchase Of Insurance And Other Services; Product Sales
Purchase Of Other Services
Purchase Of Other Services
Cash Management Agreement — Daily Cash Transfers To/from Affiliated Company; Balance Receivable At 31 December 2024 Of £341,645,000
These are Verif-AI's own confidence scores in the underlying data — not external risk ratings. Each dimension reflects how complete and self-consistent the filed numbers were on extraction.
04 · Market
Industry classification
Manufacturing
Companies House records the SIC2007 classification for this entity under 4 codes: 26400, 46520, 61900, 82990.
Geographic revenue split
Revenue split by region as the company itself reports it in the filed accounts.
Concentration + dependency
The overwhelming majority of operations are in the UK and Ireland, making the business heavily exposed to UK economic conditions.
Not quantified in the report. The company sells to large retail and network resellers as well as direct to consumers, but no single customer share is disclosed.
The report states that most supplies by value come from fellow Samsung group subsidiaries. The company is structurally dependent on the parent group for the products it sells.
Not applicable in the traditional sense — the company does not manufacture. It is, however, entirely dependent on the Samsung group's global manufacturing and supply chain for all its products.
The company buys and sells in multiple currencies — including US dollars and euros — and periodically uses forward currency contracts to reduce the risk of exchange rate swings. At year end, active contracts covered EUR 16.3m and USD 33.5m, maturing within six months.
Strategic priorities
Directly from the management commentary in the filed accounts — descriptive of stated intent, not a forecast.
Maintain and grow share in premium smartphone segments, including foldable and AI-featured devices.
Respond to competitive pricing pressure from rivals in TV and domestic appliances through promotional investment.
Wind down the leasing and invoice purchase agreement business, which the company decided to cease in May 2024.
Continue research and development activity in mobile software, next-generation telecoms and AI, recharged to the parent.
Manage climate-related risks and work toward the group's net-zero targets.
05 · People
Every named director was cross-checked against the full UK Companies House appointments dataset (27.8 million records). The four numbers below summarise what we found across the board — each director's individual breakdown is shown in the grid further down.
Each director, individually
Co-director network
People who share at least one other UK directorship with someone on this board. Sorted by overlap count. Career-companies number reflects their full UK CH appointment history.
Persons with significant control
06 · AI Insights
Story chapters
A £74 million fall in turnover produced only a £3 million fall in gross profit. That means the business protected its margin almost exactly, absorbing lower sales volume without sacrificing price or cost discipline. Operating profit followed the same pattern, dipping just 3%.
Operating profit fell from £120.1 million to £116.1 million, yet profit before tax rose from £135.3 million to £145.7 million. The difference — roughly £30 million sitting between operating and pre-tax lines — points to interest or group income not captured in the operating figure. The brief does not disclose the breakdown.
Tax rose from £19.2 million to £43.1 million — a 125% increase on the prior year. That single line turned an 8% pre-tax improvement into a 12% post-tax decline. Profit after tax landed at £102.6 million against £116.1 million the year before.
Against a business turning over £3.55 billion, £4.6 million in cash is operationally thin. Cash fell from £54.3 million to £4.6 million in one year — a 92% reduction. Whether that reflects a group cash-pooling sweep, capital deployment, or debt repayment is not disclosed in the brief.
Current liabilities dropped by £146 million to £981.7 million, and net assets rose 18% to £664.6 million. Fixed assets fell from £213.1 million to £189.3 million. The balance sheet is less encumbered at year-end than it was twelve months prior.
Samsung Electronics Co. Limited holds 75–100% of shares. Kun-Hee Lee is also listed as a person with significant influence or control — an individual PSC alongside the corporate parent. All four current directors are South Korean nationals, appointed between December 2024 and January 2026.
Hidden gems
Consistent with centralised group treasury — the parent extracts retained profits rapidly via dividend once they are crystallised. The four-day payment window suggests a pre-arranged sweep mechanism. This explains why cash at bank collapsed from £54m to £4.6m; the UK entity is not designed to accumulate cash.
The reported £3.55bn revenue figure involves significant accounting judgement around commercial allowances and discounts. This is common in large consumer electronics distribution but means the headline revenue number is less mechanical than it appears — a small shift in how incentives are accounted for can move the revenue line noticeably.
The facility appears to operate as a revolving arrangement that is drawn and repaid within the same period — consistent with intragroup cash pooling. The nil year-end balance means the full scale of intragroup funding flows during the year is not visible from the balance sheet alone.
07 · Documents
Filing pattern + upcoming windows
Due at Companies House by 2026-09-30 for the period ending 2025-12-31.
Annual confirmation due by 2026-08-11 (made up to 2026-07-28).
Final chapter — The verdict
Good Trust
A profitable, large-scale distributor that operates as a deliberate cash-pass-through — the £4.6m on the balance sheet tells you almost nothing; the £145.7m profit and Samsung parent backing tell you almost everything.
FY2024 audited accounts
Key takeaways
Consistent with centralised group treasury — the parent extracts retained profits rapidly via dividend once they are crystallised. The four-day payment window suggests a pre-arranged sweep mechanism. This explains why cash at bank collapsed from £54m to £4.6m; the UK entity is not designed to accumulate cash.
The reported £3.55bn revenue figure involves significant accounting judgement around commercial allowances and discounts. This is common in large consumer electronics distribution but means the headline revenue number is less mechanical than it appears — a small shift in how incentives are accounted for can move the revenue line noticeably.
The facility appears to operate as a revolving arrangement that is drawn and repaid within the same period — consistent with intragroup cash pooling. The nil year-end balance means the full scale of intragroup funding flows during the year is not visible from the balance sheet alone.
Unqualified KPMG LLP opinion — the cleanest outcome an audit can produce.
No operating profit split by segment is disclosed. Without profit by segment, it is impossible to tell which part of the business is making or losing money, which limits how useful the segmental data is for decision-making.
UK and Ireland dominates revenue at 95% of total sales. Almost all sales come from one market, so any downturn in UK consumer or business spending would hit the company very hard with little cushion from other regions.
09 · Verification
What we read
Who we cross-checked
Screening status
Extraction pipeline
Stages run
Limits and caveats
No sector-cohort comparison was generated for this filing — the benchmarking pipeline either skipped this SIC code or this report predates that block.
1 Deep Dive £9 · 2 for £15 · 3 for £20 · then +£4 each. Subscriptions get every Deep Dive cheaper.
Continue to checkout → Review full basket