Ultimate Products (ULTP) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• H1 revenue fell 6% to £79.5m; adjusted EBITDA declined 38% to £7.0m as lower sales and higher freight costs pressured profitability.

• UK sales fell 13%, while international revenue rose 12%; European growth and resilient premier brands partly offset weak UK trading.

• FY adjusted EBITDA guidance remained in line with market expectations, with H2 sales and margin improvement expected.

Financial highlights

• Revenue was £79.5m versus £84.2m; gross profit fell 18% to £18.4m from £22.4m.

• Adjusted PBT was £5.2m versus £9.6m; statutory profit after tax was £3.6m versus £7.1m.

• Adjusted EPS was 4.3p versus 8.3p; interim dividend was 1.55p versus 2.45p.

• Gross margin fell to 23.2% from 26.7%, including a £2.0m impact from elevated freight costs.

Outlook and guidance

• FY25 trading was in line with revised expectations; full-year revenue was expected to be flat, with H2 sales growth anticipated.

• FY adjusted EBITDA was expected to meet market expectations; normalising freight rates and automation were expected to support improved H2 margins.

• UK trade improved from Q1 to Q2, with firmer order flow supporting expectations for further improvement in Q3 and Q4.