The Very Group shifts focus to profitability, achieves record margin

The Very Group, the operater of digital retail platforms Very and Littlewoods, announced its full-year results for the 52 weeks ended June 28, 2025, detailing a significant increase in earnings despite challenging retail conditions.

The Group’s strategy emphasised profitability over volume, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.7 percent (FY24: 12.5 percent), the highest in its history. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 15.9 percent to 307.1 million pounds. This improvement was driven by performance in both the retail and financial services divisions, alongside rigorous cost discipline.

Operating costs, excluding fair value adjustments, fell to a record low of 22.3 percent of revenue. Group revenue also declined by 1.8 percent to 2.09 billion pounds, with Very UK revenue remaining largely stable, declining 0.2 percent to 1.83 billion pounds. This slight decrease reflects a focus on margin preservation.

Gross margin increased by 1.0 percent to 36.6 percent, supported by a shift in retail sales mix towards higher-margin categories, notably Home sales, which grew by 9.9 percent. In the fashion sector, the Fashion and Sports categories declined by 3.7 percent, which the company attributed to a "heavily discounted and challenging market." In contrast, the group cited strong performances in Toys (+4.3 percent) and Beauty (+5.2 percent).

CEO Robbie Feather commented that the results were a product of an "unrelenting focus on improving all aspects of our offer and customer experience."

The group reported its best-ever Net Promoter Score (NPS) at 42 and completed key milestones in its technology transformation, including cloud migration. Strategic developments included the relaunch of the retail media network as Very Media Group and the introduction of its in-house creative agency, HelloStudio.