
UK-listed retailers issued more profit warnings in Q2
FTSE retail companies issued four profit warnings during the period, but combined with the FTSE Personal Care, Drug and Grocery sector, which includes supermarkets, there were seven warnings from listed retailers.
Despite this increase, in the first half of 2025, FTSE Retailers issued a total of six profit warnings, a significant fall from the 12 warnings issued during the same period last year.
Silvia Rindone, EY Partner and UK&I Retail Lead, said: 'This [Q2] spike highlights both softening consumer demand and the deeper structural headwinds facing the sector. Retailers we speak to tell us that falling sales are currently indicative of a longer-term shift, with consumers becoming more value-focused and less brand-loyal, which leaves cost-pressured retailers in a bind."
She added: 'Despite ongoing pressures, including the rise in National Insurance Contributions and the National Living Wage, alongside tariffs, investment in technology including AI remains essential. The winners will be those who get the basics right, such as range, service, and pricing, whilst continuing to build for the future with leaner models, sharper propositions and digital resilience.'
In Q2, the number of profit warnings issued by UK-listed companies overall rose by 20% to 59 compared to 49 in the same period last year. Over the last 12 months, nearly a fifth (19%) of UK-listed businesses have issued at least one profit warning.
The leading factor behind profit warnings during the second quarter was policy change and geopolitical uncertainty, cited in nearly half (46%) of warnings. This marked a significant increase from just 4% in Q2 2024, and the highest percentage recorded for this cause in more than 25 years of EY's analysis.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fashion Network
4 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Farfetch UK subsidiary accounts show challenging times ahead of Coupang takeover
It's a source of ongoing frustration in the UK that privately-held company accounts can be quite out of date by the time they're filed. And while Farfetch as a New York Stock Exchange-listed business used to file in the US quarterly and promptly, now that it's owned by South Korea's Coupang, we only get to see its results as part of a much wider Coupang division that doesn't really tell us how Farfetch is doing. Yet the company — or to be precise Farfetch UK Limited — still files its accounts at the UK's Companies House and has just done so for full-year 2023. OK, that's quite a bit out of date but it was the year in which the business came close to failure and its 2024 results are due by the end of September, so we may get a more up to date picture soon. But what do those 2023 figures tell us? Well, as we said, the results are for a UK-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Farfetch Limited, and its principal territories are the UK and other non-EU countries, excluding the US. Reporting in US dollars, it said its revenue increased to $1.568 billion from $1.541 billion. The cost of sales also increased to $941.5 million from $916.6 million. Gross profit rose to $626.7 million from $625 million. Also on the plus side, the average order value on the marketplace rose to $592 from $549. The operating loss was huge but narrowed to $519.4 million from $574.7 million although the loss before tax widened to $602.4 million from $455.9 million. The company received a $4 million+ income tax credit during the year as opposed to a $19+ million income tax expense the year before, but the net loss for the period was $598 million compared to a loss of just under $475 million a year earlier. The e-tailer said the second half of 2023 (during which time the business hit crisis mode and was eventually taken over by Coupang) saw the retail market for luxury goods suffering a 'significant downturn' and this along with other macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges had a 'material adverse impact' on the results of Farfetch Limited Group. While it added that the directors 'anticipate the business environment will remain competitive', it said that 'with careful focus on appropriate diversification as well as continuous review of… the activities of the group, the directors are confident in the group's ability to continue to operate'. So there we are, not exactly up to date but showing just how challenging the year in which Farfetch was taken over was. Coming more up to date, its owner Coupang reported its own Q1 2025 results back in May and they showed that in its Developing Offerings segment (which actually includes International, Eats, Play, and Fintech as well as Farfetch) net revenues were $1 billion. That was up 67% year on year on a reported basis and 78% on a currency-neutral basis. We don't know any details of just what went on to cause that revenue leap. The Developing Offerings segment's adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $168 million, but that was an improvement of $18 million year on year. There were only three mentions of Farfetch in the entire quarterly results release so it doesn't seem likely that we'll get any more information in future Coupang results reports. Fingers crossed that the Farfetch UK results for 2024 do arrive by late September as scheduled.


Fashion Network
5 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Farfetch UK subsidiary accounts show challenging times ahead of Coupang takeover
It's a source of ongoing frustration in the UK that privately-held company accounts can be quite out of date by the time they're filed. And while Farfetch as a New York Stock Exchange-listed business used to file in the US quarterly and promptly, now that it's owned by South Korea's Coupang, we only get to see its results as part of a much wider Coupang division that doesn't really tell us how Farfetch is doing. Yet the company — or to be precise Farfetch UK Limited — still files its accounts at the UK's Companies House and has just done so for full-year 2023. OK, that's quite a bit out of date but it was the year in which the business came close to failure and its 2024 results are due by the end of September, so we may get a more up to date picture soon. But what do those 2023 figures tell us? Well, as we said, the results are for a UK-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Farfetch Limited, and its principal territories are the UK and other non-EU countries, excluding the US. Reporting in US dollars, it said its revenue increased to $1.568 billion from $1.541 billion. The cost of sales also increased to $941.5 million from $916.6 million. Gross profit rose to $626.7 million from $625 million. Also on the plus side, the average order value on the marketplace rose to $592 from $549. The operating loss was huge but narrowed to $519.4 million from $574.7 million although the loss before tax widened to $602.4 million from $455.9 million. The company received a $4 million+ income tax credit during the year as opposed to a $19+ million income tax expense the year before, but the net loss for the period was $598 million compared to a loss of just under $475 million a year earlier. The e-tailer said the second half of 2023 (during which time the business hit crisis mode and was eventually taken over by Coupang) saw the retail market for luxury goods suffering a 'significant downturn' and this along with other macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges had a 'material adverse impact' on the results of Farfetch Limited Group. While it added that the directors 'anticipate the business environment will remain competitive', it said that 'with careful focus on appropriate diversification as well as continuous review of… the activities of the group, the directors are confident in the group's ability to continue to operate'. So there we are, not exactly up to date but showing just how challenging the year in which Farfetch was taken over was. Coming more up to date, its owner Coupang reported its own Q1 2025 results back in May and they showed that in its Developing Offerings segment (which actually includes International, Eats, Play, and Fintech as well as Farfetch) net revenues were $1 billion. That was up 67% year on year on a reported basis and 78% on a currency-neutral basis. We don't know any details of just what went on to cause that revenue leap. The Developing Offerings segment's adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $168 million, but that was an improvement of $18 million year on year. There were only three mentions of Farfetch in the entire quarterly results release so it doesn't seem likely that we'll get any more information in future Coupang results reports. Fingers crossed that the Farfetch UK results for 2024 do arrive by late September as scheduled.


France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
UK gives green light to £38 bn Sizewell C nuclear plant
The government, the largest shareholder in the project, said Sizewell C in eastern England will cost around £38 billion ($51 billion) to construct. The project will be jointly funded by Canadian pension fund La Caisse, British Gas owner Centrica and Amber Infrastructure, alongside French energy giant EDF. EDF announced earlier this month that it will take a 12.5 percent stake in the project -- lower than the 16.2 percent stake it held at the end of 2024. 'It is time to do big things and build big projects in this country again," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in a statement. "Today we announce an investment that will provide clean, homegrown power to millions of homes for generations to come," he added. The plant, which has been in financial limbo for around a decade, is not expected to start generating electricity until 2035. The UK has refocused on shoring up nuclear power since the start of the war in Ukraine, in the name of energy security and faced with a fleet of ageing power stations. Near to Sizewell C is the Sizewell B nuclear power station which is due to close in 2035 -- and Sizewell A which is in the process of being decommissioned. EDF is also building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in southwestern England, although it has been plagued by delays and rising construction costs.