Building on FY25 margin improvement progress
Frasers Group is poised to publish its full-year results for the 52 weeks ended 27 April 2026 on Thursday 3rd of December, and the market will closely scrutinise how the company builds on the progress reflected in its fiscal year 2025 (FY25) figures.
In FY25, the group reported revenue of approximately £4.93 billion, a decline of around 11% from the prior year, reflecting challenging market conditions.
On the positive side, the company delivered adjusted profit before tax of £560.2 million, up about 2.5% from £546.3 million in fiscal year 2024 (FY24).
The company achieved adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 98.1 pence, up from 95.8 pence, demonstrating operational leverage despite revenue headwinds.
Elevation Strategy drives margin expansion
The chief executive described the year as “another record year of profitable growth” under the group’s “Elevation Strategy”, which focuses on prioritising higher-margin brands, accelerating international expansion and capturing synergies from acquisitions to drive profitability improvements.
Key matters for the upcoming results will centre around whether Frasers can sustain its margin improvement momentum despite the revenue decline and broader cost pressures.
The FY25 results showed gross margin improvement of roughly 150 basis points (group) and 170 basis points (retail) year-on-year, driven by improved product and retail mix.
Cost pressures threaten margin gains
The business will need to demonstrate that this margin gain is not a one-off and that it can offset rising costs affecting the entire retail sector, particularly those stemming from the UK’s employer national insurance rise and other budget-induced headwinds, which the company estimates at over £50 million for fiscal year 2026 (FY26).
Investors will also focus on geographic and category performance as Frasers continues to emphasise international growth through partnerships in Australia, Asia and EMEA alongside strengthening its relationships with global brands such as Nike, adidas and Hugo Boss.
Portfolio mix reflects strategic priorities
Within its portfolio, the UK Sports Retail division remains the core, but premium lifestyle brands and international retail are important growth engines.
The challenge is that revenue declines in areas such as premium lifestyle (reported down ~15% in FY25) reflect strains in the luxury and aspirational consumer segments.
For the full year results, the question will be whether international expansion, digital and loyalty (via the Frasers Plus platform) are starting to generate meaningful growth to offset softness in other parts of the business that face structural or cyclical challenges.
Cash generation and capital deployment
Free-cash-flow generation and capital allocation are further focal points. With margin gains improving, the next step is turning those gains into sustainable cash generation, managing inventory and turning over working capital in the context of a retail environment that remains challenging for discretionary spending.
Analysts will also watch for guidance for FY26, as Frasers previously guided that it expects adjusted profit before tax in the range of £550 million to £600 million.
This excludes the results of its acquisition of XXL ASA (completed in June 2025), making comparisons more complex.
The upcoming results will provide the first opportunity to assess whether FY26 is pacing in line with this target.
Expected FY26 results and analyst rating
Frasers financial expectations:
Frasers is expected to see a rise in its revenue, pre-tax profit and earnings per share (EPS):
FY revenue: £5.28 billion, representing a 7.2% year-over-year (YoY) increase
Pre-tax profit: £572.4 million, up 2.2% YoY
EPS: 99.27p, up 1.2% from 98.10p last year
According to LSEG Data & Analytics Frasers has a ‘hold’ rating with a mean long-term price target at 839.0p, around 13% above the current share price (as of 27/11/2025).