Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group revenue soars from takeovers despite Sports Direct struggles
Retail giant Frasers Group has announced a significant jump in revenues, largely propelled by a series of strategic acquisitions, successfully navigating what it described as “tough” high street conditions impacting its core Sports Direct business in the UK.
This financial uplift comes as Mike Ashley’s retail empire continues its aggressive pursuit of further deals, including potential takeovers for luxury brands Hugo Boss and Harvey Nichols.
The group, which also owns House of Fraser and Flannels, reported that total revenues climbed by 8.7 per cent to £5.33 billion in the year ending 26 April.
This growth was significantly bolstered by its international retail division, where revenues soared by 59.2 per cent to £1.6 billion, following recent takeovers such as Holdsport in South Africa and XXL in Norway.
Frasers is continuing to seek growth through takeovers, having offered to pay around 1.98 billion euro (£1.73 billion) for the 74 per cent of the business it does not already own.
It also made a similar bid to take control of Australia’s Accent Group last month, and has reportedly entered the auction process to buy the Harvey Nichols department store business in recent days.
Meanwhile, its UK sports retail division saw revenues fall by 4.7 per cent year-on-year to £2.57 billion.
Bosses said the group’s growth strategy, which has seen it grow its luxury brands and snap up competitors, has been positive but highlighted weaker consumer confidence.
Michael Murray, chief executive of Frasers, said: “The elevation strategy is going from strength to strength, with positive momentum from brand partners and strong feedback from consumers validating our strategy and giving us the confidence to continue to execute with ambition and conviction.
“However, we continued to feel the impact of tough trading conditions, subdued consumer confidence and industry-wide excess inventory levels through the second half and into the start of full-year 2027.
“These pressures are weighing on the entire sector, creating a prolonged and challenging environment, meaning the full potential of this progress has not yet been realised.”
