Electricals boss £1m share bet

THE founder of electricals retailer AO World splashed out almost £1m yesterday snapping up shares in the online-only brand.

John Roberts, a former kitchen salesman who established AO World 17 years ago, bought the stock as shares continued to slide.

It revealed this week that losses had deepened to £7m for the year to March 31, sparking a 9pc tumble in the share price on Wednesday.

In 2014, it listed on the London stock Exchange in a £1.2bn flotation but at the close of play yesterday it was worth just £545.3m.

Roberts, 43, bought 769,230 shares and now has nearly 24pc of the firm. shares fell 2pc, or 2.6p, to 126.9p.