Frasers Group PLC on Thursday said it achieved the top end of its financial guidance in financial 2024.
The Shirebrook, England-based retailer is the owner of department store chain House of Fraser and of trainers and track suits chain Sports Direct.
In the year that ended April 28, pretax profit fell 21% to £507.0 million from £638.0 million the previous year, as revenue slipped 0.9% to £5.54 billion from £5.59 billion.
Adjusted pretax profit showed a 13% increase to £544.8 million from £481.8 million, at the top end of the company’s £500 million to £550 million guidance range.
Looking ahead, Frasers guided adjusted pretax profit of £575 million to £625 million in financial 2025, meaning an increase of at least 5.5%.
Frasers continues to pay no dividend, saying it wants to prioritise financial flexibility and future investment opportunities to grow the company. It said the payment of dividends remains under review.
Frasers also noted that it completed £126.4 million in share buybacks in financial 2024, having bought back £155.2 million worth the year before.
Chief Executive Michael Murray said: ‘This has been a break-out year for building Frasers’ future growth. As well as delivering a strong trading performance, particularly from Sports Direct, we made significant progress with our Elevation Strategy. We expanded our retail ecosystem, establishing valuable partnerships with new brands...We invested in group-wide operational efficiencies in warehouse automation and digital infrastructure, which we expect to yield a tangible impact as early as FY25.’
The Elevation Strategy saw the company onboard new brand partnerships with North Face and Columbia.
UK Sports accounted for 52% of the company’s revenue during the year, with Sports Direct offsetting planned revenue declines across Game UK and Studio Retail.
‘The sport industry is not slowing down; high consumer demand, coupled with our unique proposition continues to drive profitable growth for the division,’ the company said.
Frasers shares were up 8.5% to 891.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
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