The Works lifts profit outlook after strong fourth quarter

(Sharecast News) - The Works lifted its profit outlook for 2025 and 2026 on Thursday following a strong fourth quarter. For FY25, the retailer now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of about £9.5m, up from £6m a year earlier and ahead of market expectations of £8.5m.

For FY26, meanwhile, the group said it was targeting profit growth in excess of current market expectations of £10m.

The Works said it made "significant" financial and strategic progress in FY25 against a challenging consumer backdrop. Its underlying performance was ahead of the wider non-food retail market, with total like-for-like sales growth of 0.8%.

This was driven by stores, where LFL sales grew 2.3%, underpinned by more customer-focused events, new products across all key categories and improved store standards.

Online sales fell, however, down 12.1% due to online fulfilment issues over the festive period.

The Works said total revenue fell 2% to £277m. This was because the prior year benefitted from an additional trading week.

Chief executive Gavin Peck said: "We are pleased to have made such significant progress in FY25, both strategically and financially, particularly given the challenging retail backdrop. Our sustained efforts to reduce costs and grow product margins, together with the strong sales growth post-Christmas, means we delivered profits ahead of expectations in FY25.

"Execution of our new strategy, 'Elevating The Works', is already delivering tangible results. As ever, we've got more work to do, but everyone at The Works is focused on fulfilling our ambition to become the favourite destination for affordable, screen-free activities for the whole family. We are confident that this, coupled with the strong momentum in our trading performance, will see us deliver further profit growth in FY26."

At 0816 BST, the shares were 8% higher at 32.80p.