Frasers has blamed the Budget after profit warning

In its results for the 26 weeks to October 27, 2024, Frasers said that the rise in employers’ national insurance contributions, combined with weakening customer sentiment, will see its full-year adjusted profit before tax come in between £50m and £60m lower than it had expected.

Group revenues were down 8.3% to £2.54bn, for the period, while adjusted profits fell by 1.5% to £299.2m

Frasers said it now expected full-year profits to come in between £550m-£600m – a downgrade on previous guidance of £575m-£625m.

Frasers Group chief executive Michael Murray of said: “The first half of this year has been another period of progress for the group, delivering on our objectives as the Elevation Strategy continues to take the business to the next level. Sports Direct UK delivered further sales growth, and our property and financial services divisions are seeing encouraging progress.

“We continue to operate with discipline to ensure our business is as resilient as possible – proactively right-sizing recent acquisitions to set them up for profitable long-term growth and driving further automation benefits to exceed our stock reduction targets for the period. We have also made significant strides in international expansion, developing new partnerships across Australia and Africa, and unlocking opportunities as we move further towards our goal of becoming a leading global sports retailer.

“We are set to deliver another year of profitable growth but given recent weaker consumer confidence leading up to and following the Budget, FY25 APBT is now expected to be in the range of £550m to £600m.”