REG - Angling Direct PLC - Final Results
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RNS Number : 8731D Angling Direct PLC 12 May 2026
12 May 2026
Angling Direct PLC
('Angling Direct', the 'Company' or the 'Group')
Final Results
Record UK sales underpinned by continued customer engagement with MyAD
proposition
Upgraded medium-term objectives
Angling Direct PLC (AIM: ANG), the leading omni-channel specialist fishing
tackle and equipment retailer, is pleased to announce its financial results
for the twelve months ended 31 January 2026 (FY26).
£m FY26 FY25 % Change
Revenue 103.9 91.3 +13.8%
UK retail store sales 56.4 50.7 +11.1%
UK online sales 42.8 35.7 +20.0%
Total UK sales 99.2 86.4 +14.8%
European sales 4.7 4.9 (4.7%)
Gross profit 39.1 33.1 +18.2%
Gross margin % 37.6% 36.2% +140bps
Adj. EBITDA 4.8 3.4 +42.9%
UK Adj. EBITDA(1) 5.3 4.2 +25.5%
European Adj. EBITDA(1) (0.5) (0.8) +43.5%
Adj. Profit before tax(1) 2.9 2.0 +44.0%
Basic EPS 2.81p 1.85p +51.9%
Highlights:
· Group revenue increased by 13.8% to £103.9m
· Record UK sales of £99.2m, driven by both store and online performance and
substantially delivering the £100m medium-term objective announced in May
2024
· Total UK like-for-like sales growth of 11.9% to £93.6m(2)
UK retail store estate delivered strong revenue growth of 11.1% to £56.4m,
with accelerated store rollout programme
· Like-for-like store sales increased by 5.8%, driven by improved customer
footfall and conversion
· UK online sales increased 20.0% driven by higher website sessions
· In Europe, sales were £4.7m with adjusted EBITDA losses improving to -£0.5m
· Gross margin improved by 140bps to 37.6%, supported by significant own brand
progression
· Adjusted EBITDA increased 42.9% to £4.8m
· Adjusted profit before tax increased 44.0% to £2.9m, representing an increase
in margin of 60 bps to 2.8%
· Strong balance sheet with Group net cash of £10.9m at 31 January 2026 (31
January 2025: £12.1m)
· Returned £1.1m to shareholders by the year-end following the initiation of a
£4m buyback programme in December 2024. £2.0m has been returned to
shareholders to date under the programme, reducing the Company's shares in
issue by approximately 6%
Operational highlights:
· Accelerated MyAD adoption with UK members increasing 46.8% to over 600k (31
January 2025: 409k)
· Opened six new UK stores (Chester, Burnley, Bradford, Stourport, Grimsby and
Croydon) and closed underperforming Beccles store, taking the UK footprint to
58 stores
· Shop the range technology roll out completed in May 2025 with £1.6m of sales
transacted
Current trading and outlook:
· The strong momentum seen in FY26 continued into FY27, with Group revenue in
February growing 9.7% and UK revenue also increasing 11.8%. However, following
the onset of the Middle East conflict, the Group has experienced softer
trading with Group revenue in March and April increasing 5.4% and UK revenue
increasing 7.6%
· The additional costs incurred to date as a result of the conflict, such as
distribution fuel surcharges and increased freight, are relatively
insignificant and have been fully mitigated. The Group can continue to review
levers to offset further additional costs through savings elsewhere in the
short-term, such that FY27 guidance is not impacted at this stage
· The Board remains vigilant to the likely short term knock-on effects, however
the Group's market leading position in the UK and the strength of its balance
sheet leaves it well-positioned for the future. As a result, the Board is
pleased to announce upgraded medium-term objectives which are outlined below
Upgraded medium-term objectives
We are pleased to present our upgraded medium-term financial objectives,
aligned with the next phase of our strategic growth and development, as
outlined below:
1. UK business on a flightpath to revenue of £125m
2. UK business on a flightpath to >£8m Adjusted EBITDA
3. Growing Europe's largest fishing club, MyAD, and leveraging its value
4. Development of a sustainable European business, focusing on Germany and the
Netherlands and funding any profitable expansion from existing cash
5. Deployment of cash in line with a formal Capital Allocation Policy and on a
flightpath to a >15% Adjusted ROCE
6. Angling retail's largest responsible employer
Steve Crowe, CEO of Angling Direct, said:
"Angling Direct has delivered another strong performance in FY26, achieving
significant progress against our medium term targets despite the
well-documented challenges in the broader consumer sector. We are pleased to
report record revenues of £103.9m and Adjusted EBITDA of £4.8m, ahead of
market expectations upgraded in October 2025.
"Our MyAD loyalty and repeat purchase membership club continues to underpin
our success and it has gone from strength to strength with UK membership in
the year increasing 46.8% to over 600k. This remains a clear competitive
differentiator, allowing us to leverage unique customer insights to attract
new customers and complementing our ongoing UK store rollout strategy, which
saw the Group open stores in six new catchments, bringing our UK footprint to
58 sites. This performance is testament to the hard work, dedication and
expertise of everyone at Team AD and on behalf of the Board, I would like to
thank them for their continued efforts.
"We were pleased to see the strong momentum built throughout FY26 continue
into the new financial year, with Group revenue increasing 9.7% in February.
However, as has been widely reported across the UK retail sector, following
the onset of the Middle East conflict we have experienced softer trading and
additional costs, including distribution fuel surcharges and increased
freight. The Group has mitigated these such as there is no impact on our FY27
expectations at this stage and we continue to review levers to offset any
further additional short-term costs through savings elsewhere .
"Despite these short term challenges, the Board remains confident in the long
term growth prospects for Angling Direct and we are pleased to announce
upgraded medium term objectives, having substantially achieved the existing
targets in the two years since publication. Our core objective remains
unchanged, and I am confident that with our agile business model and strong
fundamentals, we are well positioned to navigate the period ahead and fully
capitalise on the opportunities available to us."
(1) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Profit before tax figures are presented on a
pre IFRS 16 and pre IFRS 2 basis
(2) Total UK like-for-like revenue is the aggregate of the UK online and UK
store like-for-like performance
Investor Meet Company presentation - 19 May 2026
Steve Crowe (CEO) and Sam Copeman (CFO) will provide a live presentation via
the Investor Meet Company platform at 11.00 a.m. BST on 19 May. The
presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can
be submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company platform up until 9.00
a.m. the day before the meeting or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free via the following
link: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/angling-direct-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/angling-direct-plc/register-investor) .
Investors who already follow Angling Direct on the platform will automatically
be invited.
For further information please contact:
Angling Direct PLC +44 (0) 1603 258 658
Steven Crowe, Chief Executive Officer
Sam Copeman, Chief Financial Officer
Singer Capital Markets - NOMAD and Broker +44 (0) 20 7496 3000
Peter Steel
James Todd
FTI Consulting - Financial PR +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Alex Beagley anglingdirect@fticonsulting.com (mailto:anglingdirect@fticonsulting.com)
Matthew Young
Harleena Chana
About Angling Direct
Angling Direct is the leading omni-channel specialist fishing tackle retailer
in the UK, with an established and growing presence in Europe. Headquartered
in Norfolk UK, the Company sells fishing tackle products and related equipment
through its network of approximately 60 UK retail stores, as well as through
its leading digital platform (www.anglingdirect.co.uk
(https://eu-west-1.protection.sophos.com?d=anglingdirect.co.uk&u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbmdsaW5nZGlyZWN0LmNvLnVrLw==&i=NWZmMzFiMDlmNTYxZTYwZGYyODQyMzUz&t=K2FWYTRxeDV6cWRxd2I5dVpOODk5dnFObVU2U2p5WElLNndSM01SaStUcz0=&h=704002e0ebe140b99f9f3842770cb87e&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVapg934Yb5nAolTQ9o0CeldsCYWuT9YetF_pLFbutVHOzk4kq9BEj_vGoYOcSbmh2Q)
) and the MyAD Fishing Club app. The Company has three further native language
websites in its key European territories (www.anglingdirect.de,
(https://eu-west-1.protection.sophos.com?d=anglingdirect.de&u=d3d3LmFuZ2xpbmdkaXJlY3QuZGU=&i=NWZmMzFiMDlmNTYxZTYwZGYyODQyMzUz&t=VVRndGRoM1kvaFpNWnRpMzZ0M3NsT2I1NFdGTEp6ZllkYnFBaFFZb2FNWT0=&h=704002e0ebe140b99f9f3842770cb87e&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVapg934Yb5nAolTQ9o0CeldsCYWuT9YetF_pLFbutVHOzk4kq9BEj_vGoYOcSbmh2Q)
.fr, .nl), with orders fulfilled by its international distribution centre in
The Netherlands.
Angling Direct's purpose is to inspire everyone to get out and enjoy an
exceptional fishing experience, regardless of background or ability, in the
great outdoors. Angling Direct's active digital channels and its 500
colleagues contribute to the Company's ethos of care for the wider community
and the environment (www.anglingdirect.co.uk/sustainability
(https://eu-west-1.protection.sophos.com?d=anglingdirect.co.uk&u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbmdsaW5nZGlyZWN0LmNvLnVrL3N1c3RhaW5hYmlsaXR5&i=NWZmMzFiMDlmNTYxZTYwZGYyODQyMzUz&t=a25La0pYblhuR0diWS9OWVhUTEJtSjRiNmhCdktRWnNiUG9ibXlUMjNuTT0=&h=704002e0ebe140b99f9f3842770cb87e&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVapg934Yb5nAolTQ9o0CeldsCYWuT9YetF_pLFbutVHOzk4kq9BEj_vGoYOcSbmh2Q)
). Angling Direct currently sells over 25,000 fishing tackle products from
industry leading brands alongside its own brands 'Advanta', and entry level
offering 'Discover'.
Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to present the Chairman's Statement for FY26 - a year defined by
continued disciplined execution, building strategic momentum and sustained
financial and operational progress across the Group. Our long‑term ambition
remains clear: to build Europe's leading fishing tackle destination. This
year, we delivered meaningful progress towards that goal, supported by
strengthened customer engagement and an increasingly efficient operating
platform.
The Group's progress is best summarised across three areas: sustained growth
in the UK, disciplined improvement in Europe, and continued advancement of our
customer‑centric omni-channel model, gaining share across both online and
in-store channels. These pillars have enabled us to navigate challenging and
evolving market dynamics while reinforcing the resilience and opportunity
inherent in our strategy and the markets in which we operate.
MyAD continues to be a powerful differentiator and a core element of our
strategy. Membership increased 47% during the year to over 600,000 customers,
reflecting the appeal of personalised offers, exclusive competitions and more
broadly the value of our customer proposition. Our ability to analyse
behaviour at scale is continually improving, enabling richer customer
journeys, stronger retention rates and deeper relevance. The launch of AD WIN,
the Group's own competition website in May 2025 has added a new dimension to
customer engagement, generating £0.4m of revenue and making a positive
contribution to the AD Community fund in FY26.
Financial Overview
The UK business delivered another year of strong performance, achieving record
revenue of £99.2m, an increase of 14.8% on the prior year. Growth was
delivered online and in-store, supported by rising customer numbers and
strengthened omnichannel engagement. UK like‑for‑like sales rose 11.9%,
reflecting the effectiveness of the Group's MyAD loyalty programme, our price
promise and the deeper customer understanding generated through data‑led
decision‑making. This evolving model continues to enhance our ability to
engage customers who shop with us both in store and digitally.
Our retail estate remains a central pillar of our offer and a source of
long‑term competitive advantage. We opened six new UK stores during the
year, extending our reach into both established and high‑potential
catchments. At the same time, we retained disciplined capital deployment by
closing one underperforming location, ensuring the estate remains optimised
and returns‑accretive. Footfall and customer engagement increased across
both new and mature sites, supported by advances in merchandising technology,
expanded in‑store services and growing familiarity with MyAD.
Online performance was stand out, with revenue increasing 20.0% to £42.8m as
the Group continues to take share in the UK higher‑ticket market.
Investments in digital infrastructure and improved customer marketing
delivered higher customer numbers, enhanced conversion rates and efficient
advertising spend. Our social and digital presence continues to scale, with
more than 9 million YouTube views in FY26 and c.580,000 social media followers
at 31 January 2026, reinforcing our leadership within the angling community
and supporting our ability to reach a younger and increasingly diverse
customer base, a key tenant of our long-term strategy to retain and grow our
customer base across different demographics.
Profitability in the UK progressed ahead of revenue, with Adjusted EBITDA
rising 25.5% to £5.3m. Gross margin improved as we leveraged buying scale,
deepened supplier partnerships and further expanded our own‑brand ranges.
Our operational efficiency also strengthened, supported by technology
investments including automated packing capability in our fulfilment centre
and the rollout of digital shelf‑edge labelling - initiatives that will
continue to deliver benefits in the years ahead.
The European digital trading environment remained competitive and was
characterised by elevated customer acquisition costs. Despite this backdrop,
our disciplined approach delivered a tangible improvement, with Adjusted
EBITDA losses reducing by nearly one‑third. We are pleased that the Utrecht
store in the Netherlands completed its first full year of trading and achieved
a break‑even result, while continuing to build brand presence and customer
traction. Our belief remains that Europe represents a compelling long‑term
opportunity for the Group, and we will continue to balance investment with our
proven track record of prudent capital discipline.
Capital Allocation & Shareholder Value
The Group's balance sheet remains strong, allowing us to invest confidently in
accretive growth opportunities while maintaining flexibility. Our capital
allocation framework is designed to create enduring shareholder value while
supporting the execution of our strategy.
During the year, we allocated capital across three priority areas:
high‑return store expansion, investment in digital shelf edge labelling and
our ongoing share buyback programme. Each deployment is measured against
strict return thresholds and disciplined financial criteria. Our approach
ensures that capital is directed to opportunities that deliver attractive
returns, reinforce strategic progress and strengthen the Group's long‑term
value creation potential.
People and community
As the largest UK employer in our sector, we remain committed to responsibly
supporting the communities in which we operate. Our environmental and social
impact initiatives continued to grow this year, including increased
participation in the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme and our fifth year
of partnership with the Angling Trust. These programmes play an important role
in supporting participation growth, water quality monitoring and the
long‑term health of the angling environment.
Our success is in no small part due to the dedication and enthusiasm of our
superb colleagues who share our vision and are passionate in delivering the
very best experience to our angling community. Our colleagues are key to all
we do, and we endeavor to support them with our ambition to be the best
employer in our sector.
Board Governance & Culture
As planned, at the end of the period Martyn Page, Angling Direct's co-founder,
stepped down from his Non-executive Director role. The Group would not be
where it is today if it wasn't for Martyn's hard work and dedication. We are
delighted that Martyn has agreed to remain involved with Angling Direct in the
new role of Founder President. On behalf of the Board and everyone at Angling
Direct, I would like to thank him for all he has done for both the business
and the wider angling community.
During the year, the Board continued to strengthen governance processes,
oversight mechanisms and strategic challenge to ensure they remain aligned
with the Group's growth trajectory. We also renewed our focus on leadership
development and succession planning, reflecting our commitment to maintaining
a high‑performance culture grounded in accountability, transparency and
long‑term thinking. The Board's work in these areas ensures that the Group
remains well governed, resilient and equipped to deliver sustained shareholder
value.
Looking ahead, the Board has upgraded the Group's medium‑term objectives in
recognition of the momentum achieved and the opportunities ahead and there is
more on this in the Chief Executive's Statement.
With a clear strategy, an increasingly robust platform and a highly capable
management team, we believe that the Group is well positioned for the years
ahead. I would like to express my sincere thanks to our colleagues for their
dedication and to our shareholders for their ongoing support. The Board
remains confident in the substantial long‑term opportunity ahead and our
ability to create lasting value for all stakeholders.
Andy Torrance
Non-Executive Chairman
11 May 2026
Chief Executive's Statement
Sustained strategic progress - Building Europe's Biggest Fishing Club
We have a long-term strategy to become the leading fishing tackle destination
in Europe by inspiring and delighting increasing numbers of customers,
focusing on sustainable, profitable growth and engaging with our customers and
local angling communities. Our strategy remains to create Europe's largest
fishing club. Our ambitions are underpinned by our medium-term objectives
first set out in May 2024, against which we continue to deliver tangible
progress. These ambitions are repeated below:
1. UK business on a flightpath to revenue of £100m
2. UK business on a flightpath to >£6m Adjusted EBITDA
3. Development of a sustainable European business
4. Creating Europe's largest fishing club, MyAD, and leveraging its value
5. Deployment of surplus liquidity to further grow the business beyond the
medium-term objectives
6. Angling retail's largest responsible employer
The Board is confident that continuing to deliver against our strategy and
medium-term objectives will further differentiate us from our competitors and
unlock the significant growth opportunity we see ahead, maximising long-term
sustainable value for all stakeholders.
The MyAD omnichannel proposition continues to bring together our complete
offering under one banner, bridging the gap between our physical stores and
our digital offer. This unified positioning deepens our understanding of our
customer, allowing us to significantly enhance our proposition and marketing
efficiency.
As the UK market leader with a purpose of 'Getting Everyone Fishing', Angling
Direct is uniquely placed to deliver further profitable growth both within the
UK and over the longer term in the sizeable European fishing tackle markets as
people of all backgrounds discover the restorative pleasure, challenge and
wellbeing benefits of angling.
1. UK business on a flightpath to revenue of £100m
The UK business delivered revenue of £99.2m, growing 14.8% against FY25
(£86.4m). The growth was delivered across online and in store, with both
channels seeing increases in customer numbers as our omnichannel model,
underpinned by MyAD and our price promise, continued to grow its reach and
gain traction in a consolidating market. UK like for like sales(1) increased
11.9% as we adapt our proposition by leveraging our unique data-led insights
to gain a better understanding of our customers and strengthen engagement with
those who increasingly shop with us both in store and digitally.
UK Retail Stores
Total store sales in the year increased 11.1% to £56.4m (FY25: £50.7m).
Like-for-like store sales(2) grew by 5.8%. In line with our medium-term
objective of delivering a UK retail store portfolio with annual sales in
excess of £60m, we continued to invest in new UK retail stores. During the
year we opened six new UK sites in Chester, Burnley, Bradford, Stourport,
Grimsby and Croydon.
During the period, we saw an increase in footfall and customer numbers across
both our established and new sites. This has been driven by the success of our
MyAD loyalty and repeat purchase membership club, alongside the increased use
of merchandising technology, growing demand for our in-store services and our
valued assisted selling model.
Having continued the momentum of our new store roll out plans in FY26, our UK
ambition remains clear, and we are focused on seeking out new catchments which
present an opportunity to deliver scalable revenues and accretive returns. We
are actively identifying growth areas including traditional scale
opportunities, greenfield and acquisition, which are now complemented by
smaller catchment areas such as Bradford and Stourport, where we can deploy a
footprint of smaller stores with a margin intense range model.
To support the drive to access a greater share of customer wallets and
increase the number of customers who shop with us both physically and
digitally, we rolled out in-store 'shop the range' technology across the
estate to offer customers access to our full product range, delivered next day
to home or the store of their choice. Full roll out was completed in May 2025
and since that time we have transacted £1.6m of sales through this
technology.
Elsewhere, we continue to upgrade and standardise our older retail stores.
During the year we re-sited our Leicester store and closed our underperforming
store in Beccles as we continue to optimise our capital deployment relative to
the accompanying return.
UK Online
UK online sales grew by 20.0% to £42.8m (FY25: £35.7m) as our MyAD and
everyday low-price propositions enabled the UK online business to take greater
share of the higher ticket item market.
As part of our drive to grow market share and customer loyalty, we continue to
invest in contemporary digital infrastructure and customer marketing, further
increasing our competitive moat. These investments delivered a 14% increase in
customer numbers alongside improved conversion (+c.20 bps), evidencing our
ability to increasingly dominate the landscape for higher ticket items.
Utilising a data led approach to our digital marketing continues to prove a
clear differentiator and a source of competitive advantage with our conversion
rates, and our resulting ratio of advertising spend to sales, outperforming
the inflationary "cost per click" market.
We have seen continued momentum across our social media platforms, with
Angling Direct's YouTube channel surpassing 9 million views in the year, 29%
higher than FY25 (7 million). Alongside this, our social media reach, in
particular TikTok and Instagram, continues to scale with our total social
followers increasing 14% to c.580k since 31 January 2025. These initiatives
are key to opening up our offering to new target customer audiences and
providing opportunities for further growth in the longer-term.
2. UK business on a flightpath to >£6m Adjusted EBITDA
The UK business increased Adjusted EBITDA by 25.5% to £5.3m (FY25: £4.2m),
outpacing revenue growth and increasingly demonstrating the operating leverage
as the business scales. The UK business was able to enhance gross margins,
absorb cost headwinds and balance cost investment against revenue growth,
delivering an accelerated earnings flightpath against our medium-term ambition
of achieving Adjusted EBITDA of >£6m.
A key component of delivering our UK profitability target is increasing our
gross margin. To achieve this, we will continue to leverage our category
authority and expertise to lead choice, innovation and value, making it easier
for anglers to access the best products and services.
During the period our increasingly sophisticated and agile ranging, buying and
pricing practices have increased the Group's gross margin by 140 bps, with
overall UK margin up 130 bps to 38.0%. Higher margin own brand gross profit
grew by c.53% (third party brands c.16%), playing an increasingly pivotal role
in the overall UK gross margin profile. Stock availability within own brand
ranges remains at good levels and the own brand distribution centre brought
online in H2 FY25 continues to operate effectively to satisfy this continued
growth.
Alongside our growing scale, we have deepened our relationships with key
suppliers, allowing us to secure stock at favourable trade terms while giving
supplier partners surety of volume and cashflow. These scale partnerships
delivered 70 bps of the gross margin progression in the year.
Our technology deployment remains focused on operational efficiency
improvements to reduce the exposure of the business to further cost pressures
and, in particular, above inflationary living wage increases in FY26 and
beyond. Our UK stores and distribution centres continue to explore and test
improved ways of operating, alongside ensuring we maximise the benefits of
past investments, in particular the automated packing machine in the UK
customer fulfilment centre, which came online in Q4 FY25. Despite national
living wage and National Insurance ("NI") headwinds, the combined impact of
both operations has delivered colleague to sales ratios commensurate with
FY25.
We continue to operate a lean Group central cost base and will leverage this
further while we focus on UK revenue growth. Our ambition remains to operate
these costs below 7% of UK revenue and during the year we delivered a ratio of
6.7%, balancing investment and cost headwinds against delivering operational
leverage (FY25: 6.7%).
UK Retail Stores
In order to mitigate inflationary pressure, including the c.7% increase in the
living wage and the increased employers NI in April 2025, we have continued to
deploy customer-targeted colleague working rotas alongside using handheld
digital technologies to support store colleagues with in-store tasks. In H2
FY26 we fully implemented our Digital Shelf Edge Labelling solution across the
store estate. Whilst this represented a substantial investment of c.£2.1m, we
expect that the benefits in mitigating inflationary wage pressures will be
realised in FY27 and beyond.
Our in-store services remain a key differentiator of the AD proposition and
FY26 saw the first full year of the reel servicing offer alongside our
existing services of reel spooling and pole elastication, with revenues for in
store services increasing c.35% to £0.2m.
We do note that, aligned with the wider retail sector during the period, the
business continues to observe persistent and increasing levels of attempted
theft from its stores and we continue to trial and adapt new protocols to
tackle this. These measures have abated some of the impact on earnings
year-on-year with shrinkage deteriorating the UK retail stores gross margin by
20 bps in FY26.
Rental costs and business rates continue to inflict inflationary pressures on
the business and we review lease break options against wider market rental
data to mitigate costs where possible, whilst at the same time balancing this
with data driven insights into customer catchments. Against this backdrop, we
closed one underperforming store in Beccles during the period.
UK Online
The online business delivered revenue progression despite an increasingly
volatile paid advertising landscape. Alongside this, we have implemented new
AI technologies into the customer service journey and onsite search &
recommend optimisation.
The online business also benefitted from the stores leveraging the 'shop the
range' technology alongside our capability to access our store stock file to
fulfil for digital orders when basket dynamics make this attractive to do so.
This, combined with our cash generative approach to digital marketing, drove
increased customer numbers and absolute Adjusted EBITDA progress. A deeper
understanding of our customer from the technology deployments in H1 has helped
us grow the percentage of our customers who shop with us through both channels
by +310bps.
3. Development of a sustainable European business
Given the continuing success of our UK strategy, which has resulted in the
Group achieving substantial market share gains, the Board remains focused on
establishing a long-term growth trajectory for the business. The opportunity
to grow share in Europe remains a realistic ambition with the cumulative total
addressable markets in Germany and the Netherlands alone being over twice the
size of the UK's.
During the year, the European digital trading landscape remained challenging
with significant pressure on both retail prices and paid advertising costs. We
continued to concentrate on optimising trading in our key target territories
of Germany and the Netherlands. This approach provides a clear focus on
delivering profitable sales in order to protect margins and further reduce the
trading losses of the digital business and the associated drag on Group
earnings whilst retaining optionality, ahead of any market recovery which
would justify further material capital deployment in Europe.
The Group made strong progress against the like for like loss(3) reduction
plan and associated KPIs in the year:
· Operating margins +370 bps to -11.8%; and
· Adjusted EBITDA losses reduced 31.8% to £0.5m with an associated 370 bps
improvement in EBITDA margin.
The European digital business operates its fulfilment through a third-party
logistics operator and this contract continues to operate effectively,
enabling our European business to reduce its property costs.
FY26 saw the first full year of trading for the store in Utrecht, the
Netherlands. Our unique customer numbers continue to scale alongside improved
frequency, ensuring our marketing focus amplifies our product and price
credentials, underpinned by MyAD. The store delivered a break even result for
the year.
The European retailing landscape for our industry is currently more uncertain
than the UK and is characterised by intense pricing competition. Whilst the
competitive market is creating opportunities for the Group, we keep EU trading
progress under continual evaluation, maintaining a balance between market
optionality and a forward-looking view of the likely returns that could be
generated.
Despite these competitive markets, we continue to believe that there is a
significant longer term opportunity in Europe to underpin a sustained growth
trajectory for the Group, and this will create opportunity for value creation,
much as it has done in the UK.
4. Creating Europe's largest fishing club, MyAD and leveraging its value
MyAD has gone from strength-to-strength, with membership increasing 47%
year-on-year to over 600k at 31 January 2026 (31 January 2025: 409k). The
proposition provides access to everyday deals, 'money can't buy' prizes,
special MyAD bundles and monthly prize giveaways, which continue to resonate
well and attract new customers. Alongside this, we operate the MyAD Choice
awards which allows customers to vote for products across a number of
categories. We then share the results with suppliers to leverage the exposure
of these products which has proven to be engaging for customers and value
accretive for suppliers. To further supplement the "why wouldn't I join"
appeal, MyAD now offers wider benefits which enable members to access
discounts and offers from complementary product categories.
In May 2025 the team launched AD WIN, our own competition website designed to
take share of this expanding market and simultaneously give MyAD another
avenue to offer value to its members through free entry tickets to some of the
competitions. During FY26, its first year, the website generated £0.4m of
revenue and delivered a positive contribution to Adjusted EBITDA.
We are increasingly confident that our unique and deepening data driven
insights into anglers' needs and preferences will drive improved performance
in revenues and operations through growing levels of loyalty, repeat
purchasing and better ability to engage with our customer base. To underpin
this, we continue to work on the delivery of personalised offers to customers
based on the data insights and behaviours that are available to us and are
increasingly focused upon delivering customer strategies which drive omni
channel participation alongside targeting over 45% of our store-only customers
who visit us in-store only once a year.
5. Deployment of surplus liquidity to further grow the business beyond the
medium-term objectives
We continue to have a strong balance sheet which allows us to deploy surplus
capital into accelerating the growth of the UK business. We remain focused on
our store rollout strategy, developing existing "greenfield" sites, alongside
our store acquisition pipeline, both in our traditional size and more latterly
in our smaller format locations. During the year we invested £2.5m in assets
and working capital across our six new UK locations.
There is a distinct opportunity for the Group to further scale investment in
owned brands and we will actively develop this pipeline both organically and,
where appropriate, inorganically.
In December 2024 the Group published its Capital Allocation Policy and is
fully focused on both deploying and returning capital to shareholders in
accordance with this, maintaining our overarching objective to maximise
shareholder returns. In accordance with the Capital Allocation Policy the
Company extended its share buyback programme in December 2025. At the balance
sheet date, £1.7m had been deployed since its commencement with £1.1m
deployed during FY26, increasing to £2.0m at the reporting date with the
Board and its advisers continuing to closely scrutinise the effectiveness of
this current strategy.
6. Angling retail's largest responsible employer
We remain fully committed to acting responsibly and sustainably within the
environment and communities in which we operate. We continue to be the
employer of choice for an increasing number of anglers with our colleague
count increasing to over 500 for the first time during the year.
We are committed to developing our approach to sustainability and have
increased our work on supporting the Anglers National Line recycling scheme
through our recycling bins for fisheries alongside our recycling points in our
new retail stores. During the year we also increased the volume of line we
helped to recycle by over 85% to 3.5 million metres, with Angling Direct and
its customers recycling over 70% of all line recycled through this scheme in
the UK.
Protecting the environment is core to everything we do and we remain focused
on leveraging our size and scale to reduce our environmental impact. We are
proud to support and sponsor the Angling Trust's 'Anglers Against Pollution'
campaign by providing essential funding and logistical support to expand the
Water Quality Monitoring Network, a vital initiative that empowers anglers to
test and report on water pollution across England and Wales.
Our third and final year as exclusive retail sponsors of the Angling Trust's
'Get Fishing' campaign, which is designed to attract new and returning anglers
through a bankside coaching collaboration with Sport England and the
Environment Agency, reached c.22,000 individuals through 1,458 events in the
year. Alongside this, the campaign's digital communications had a reach of
over 7 million, all signposting the collaboration with Angling Direct. We
continue to work closely with the Angling Trust to improve this reach and
attract and retain anglers through tailored marketing journeys and product
offers.
Our ambition remains to support the health of the pastime and industry through
collaboration. To underpin this, we have committed to pledge 5% of revenue
from our AD WIN competition website to third party organisations focused on
improving the health of the pastime, both in terms of participation levels as
well as the health and accessibility of blue spaces.
During the year, coarse fishing licence sales (12 month licences) increased to
above pre-COVID levels for the first time and with an over 20% increase in
young people sales, it is pleasing to see growing engagement from people new
to the pastime.
We take our ESG responsibilities seriously and that extends to ensuring
Angling Direct is continually working towards enhancing sustainable business
practices across the areas of environmental protection, economic viability,
and social diversity.
Summary - this year's road map and beyond
The accelerated earnings and revenue growth in the UK means that the Board is
now re-framing the medium-term objectives for the Group after only two years
since they were first published. The upgraded medium-term objectives are set
out below:
1. UK business on a flightpath to revenue of £125m
2. UK business on a flightpath to >£8m Adjusted EBITDA
3. Growing Europe's largest fishing club, MyAD, and leveraging its value
4. Development of a sustainable European business, focusing on Germany and
the Netherlands and funding any expansion from existing cash
5. Deployment of cash in line with a formal Capital Allocation Policy and
on a flightpath to a >15% Adjusted ROCE(4)
6. Angling retail's largest responsible employer
Against these upgraded ambitions, February sales were encouraging and the
Group grew overall revenue by 9.7%, with the UK growing by 11.8% up to the
beginning of the conflict in the Middle East. Revenue for March and April was
softer at 5.4% up, with 7.6% growth in the UK.
The additional costs incurred to date as a result of the conflict, such as
distribution fuel surcharges and increased freight, have been fully mitigated.
We continue to review levers to offset further additional costs through
savings elsewhere in the short-term, such that our FY27 guidance is not
impacted at this stage.
We continue to experience short term volatility in customer demand and current
trading has not yet reached the incredibly strong levels experienced in the
first half of FY26. At this point, the short-term implications of the conflict
are uncertain, and much will depend on how long the conflict persists.
The Board remains vigilant to the likely short term knock-on effects, however
our market leading position in the UK and the strength of our balance sheet
leaves us well-positioned for the future. It also provides the Board with the
confidence to upgrade our medium term objectives.
The Group will provide a more detailed update for FY27 with our first half
Trading Statement on 19 August. We believe we will have a clearer picture by
then, as we will have traded through most of our peak summer season.
Despite the short-term macro challenges, with the continued support and
dedication of our outstanding colleagues, I look forward to sharing further
success with shareholders as we progress towards our upgraded medium-term
objectives.
Steve Crowe
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
11 May 2026
(1) UK like-for-like performance includes the total of the UK digital business
and the UK like-for-like stores.
(2) UK stores like-for-like performance incudes all stores that opened on or
before 31 January 2024, so there is a full financial year of comparative. This
includes the Beccles store which closed in November 2025.
(3) European like-for-like performance excludes the first European store in
Utrecht
(4) Adjusted EBITDA less depreciation, amortisation (pre IFRS 16) plus or
minus net interest (pre IFRS 16) as a ratio of average (opening v closing)
net assets excluding cash
Chief Financial Officer's Statement
The Group delivered another strong year of progress in the delivery of its
medium-term with its strategy driving further competitive advantage and market
share gains in the UK, whilst continuing to participate in the European market
to provide optionality on the significant growth opportunity it presents for
the business. On a Group basis:
· Revenues grew by 13.8% to £103.9m (FY25: £91.3m);
· Adjusted EBITDA grew by 42.9% to £4.8m (FY25: £3.4m);
· Adjusted Profit Before Tax grew by 44.0% to £2.9m (FY25: £2.0m);
· Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) grew by 51.9% to 2.81p per share (FY25: 1.85p);
and
· Adjusted Free Cashflow improved by £3.5m to £4.8m (FY25: £1.3m).
Within this section, the financial performance of the business is analysed on
an Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Profit Before Tax, Adjusted Free Cashflow and
Adjusted ROCE (calculated as Adjusted EBIT divided by the average of opening
and closing net assets, excluding cash and cash equivalents) basis. These
'Adjusted' measures are presented on a pre IFRS 16 (leases) and pre IFRS 2
(share based payments) basis. Additionally, Adjusted Free Cashflow represents
the net decrease / increase in cash equivalents from the Consolidated
Statement of Cash Flows adjusted to remove specific investments in capital
expenditure and working capital deployment on new space in FY27 (as
specifically set out in the table below) and cash deployed in the ongoing
buyback programme. These represent alternative performance measures that
management and the Board use for assessing the financial performance and
position of the Group and is consistent with the covering analyst's market
forecasts.
Continuing to deliver UK revenue growth
The UK delivered record revenue of £99.2m, representing growth of 14.8%
(FY25: £86.4m) and substantially achieving its £100m medium term revenue
target within two years, driven by:
· UK stores, which grew revenue by 11.1% to £56.4m (FY25: £50.7m)
o Like-for-like(1) store revenues increased by 5.8% to £50.8m (FY25:
£48.0m) primarily driven by improved footfall; and
o The store roll out programme, with 6 new sites in FY25 (Cannock, Crewe,
Walsall, Newark, Shrewsbury and Derby) and 6 new sites in FY26 (Chester,
Burnley, Bradford, Stourport, Grimsby and Croydon) delivering revenues of
£5.6m. This results in a UK footprint of 58 stores as at 31 January 2026.
· UK online revenues, which grew by 20.0% to £42.8m (FY25:
£35.7m) primarily driven by higher website sessions.
As the UK business increasingly utilises the customer insights gained through
MyAD, further leverages its market leading product range across both the
stores and online channels and continues to become ever more joined up in the
way it operates, the overall UK like-for-like(2) growth will form the key
metric to track the success of the UK business as an omni-channel retailer.
The UK like-for-like business delivered revenue growth of 11.9% to £93.6m
(FY25: £83.7m).
Continuing to build UK profitability
The UK delivered Adjusted EBITDA of £5.3m, representing growth of 25.5%
(FY25: £4.2m) with the Adjusted EBITDA margin growing 40 bps to 5.3%. This
was achieved through strong gross margin progression, further cost base
efficiencies while absorbing the well-publicised cost headwinds facing the
wider retail sector (e.g. employers national insurance changes) and continued
investment in the business. The UK business delivered gross margin growth of
130 bps to 38.0%, representing a second consecutive year of strong growth
(FY25 +140 bps to 36.7%, FY24 +10 bps to 35.3%). The gross margin gains were
delivered through strong own brand progression (own brand pre-shrink gross
profit penetration is now at 14.2%), improved supplier mix and terms, growth
in service based revenue streams, but partially offset by increased
promotional activity and shrinkage.
Continuing to participate in the European market on an increasingly
sustainable basis
As set out in the CEO Statement, the Board remains focused on establishing a
longer-term growth trajectory for the business, through the key European
target territories of Germany and the Netherlands.
Whilst the Board continues to monitor and evaluate the market, the primary
objective for the European business is to continue to participate in these
markets to retain optionality whilst reducing the Adjusted EBITDA losses both
as a percentage of UK Adjusted EBITDA and on an absolute basis. Strong
progress has been delivered in the year against each of these metrics:
· European Adjusted EBITDA loss as a percentage of UK Adjusted EBIDTA improved
by 54.9% / 1,100 bps to 9.1% (FY26: 20.2%); and
· Adjusted EBITDA losses improved by 43.5% to -£0.5m (FY25: -£0.8m).
Overall European revenue reduced by 4.7% to £4.7m (FY25: £4.9m).
The European online trading landscape remained challenging with significant
pressure on both customer price and paid advertising costs, with the European
business continuing to concentrate on optimising trading in the key target
territories. This approach provided a clear focus on delivering increasingly
profitable revenues to further reduce the trading losses of the online
business and their associated drag on Group earnings whilst retaining
optionality, ahead of any market recovery which would justify further material
capital deployment in Europe. As a result of this, online revenues were 23.4%
lower at £4.1m (FY25 £4.6m) but the online operating margin (overall
European segment, excluding the store) improved 370 bps to -11.8% (FY25:
-15.5%).
The Utrecht store in the Netherlands continues to scale and reached a
break-even position in the year.
Continuing to improve Group earnings metrics
At a Group level, the strong growth metrics continue to build:
· Group Adjusted EBITDA grew 42.9% to £4.8m (FY25: £3.4m) - reflecting the
Adjusted EBITDA growth in the UK alongside the improved Adjusted EBITDA losses
in Europe - with Group Adjusted EBITDA margin growth of 90 bps to 4.6%.
· Group Adjusted EBIT grew 84.0% to £2.6m (FY25: £1.4m), with depreciation and
amortisation growth to £2.2m (FY25: 1.9m) and Group Adjusted EBIT margin
growth of 100 bps to 2.5%.
· Group Adjusted Profit Before Tax growth grew 44.0% to £2.9m (FY25: £2.0m),
reflecting net interest received of £0.3m (FY25: £0.6m), with Group Adjusted
Profit Before Tax margin growth of 60 bps to 2.8%.
The Group's effective tax rate was 28.1% (FY25: 27.1%). All of the Group's
revenues and the majority of its expenses are subject to corporation tax. The
main costs that are not deductible for tax purposes relate to legal and
professional fees and non-qualifying depreciation. Tax relief for some costs,
mainly unapproved share options, is received over a longer period than that
for which the costs are charged to the financial statements.
Consequently, the Group's reported profit after tax was £2.1m, a 44.5%
increase (FY25: £1.4m).
The Group's basic earnings per share increased by 51.9% to 2.81p per share
(FY25: 1.85p). This growth was delivered through the greater level of
profitability, and supported through the ongoing £4m buyback program
initiated in December 2024 and renewed in December 2025 This has deployed
£2.0m to the date of this report (made up of: £0.60m in FY25, £1.13m in
FY26 and £0.22m in FY27 to the date of this report). The diluted earnings per
share of 2.78p (FY25: 1.84p) reflects the current LTIP share options in issue
which dilute the basic earnings per share.
There were no dividends paid, recommended, or declared during the current and
prior financial year. The Group is focused on delivering its medium-term
objectives and will continue to deploy cash in line with the capital
allocation policy published in December 2024.
Continuing to invest cash to deliver the medium-term objectives
The Group continues to invest significant cash to support the delivery of the
medium-term objectives alongside the continuation of the share buyback
programme, resulting in a net cash outflow of £1.1m (FY25: £3.6m outflow).
If this is adjusted to remove specific investments in capital expenditure and
working capital deployment on new space in FY27 and cash deployed in the
ongoing buyback programme - or Adjusted Free Cashflow - this shows a
significant improvement:
31 Jan 31 Jan
2026 2025
£m £m
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (1.1) (3.6)
New store space (working capital and capex) 2.5 3.2
Scaling of web fulfilment capability (capex) 0.2 0.6
Roll out of digital shelf edge labelling (capex) 2.1
New own brand logistics capacity (capex) 0.3
Shop the range technology deployment (capex) 0.2
Cash investment to support the delivery of the medium-term objectives 4.8 4.3
Buyback net of the sale of treasury shares 1.1 0.6
Adjusted Free Cashflow 4.8 1.3
Continuing to deliver improving returns
The consolidated statement of financial position remains robust and at the end
of FY26 the Group had a 3.6% increase in net assets to £40.8m (FY25:
£39.4m).
The Group continued to have no external borrowing (outside of IFRS 16 lease
liabilities) as at the reporting date and closed FY26 with a cash and cash
equivalents position of £10.9m (FY25: £12.1m). Net debt (representing the
Group's IFRS16 lease liabilities less the cash position as at the reporting
date) increased to £1.8m (FY25: net debt £0.8m), reflecting the £1.2m
reduction in cash held and a £0.2m reduction in the IFRS 16 leases.
The fixed asset increase in intangibles and property, plant and equipment of
£2.9m was primarily driven by the continued investment in line with the
medium-term objectives, as set out in the 'Continuing to invest cash to
deliver the medium-term objectives' section above, alongside continued spend
on maintenance capex. Right-of-use IFRS 16 assets increased by £0.1m,
primarily reflecting the lease liabilities (current and non-current) of the
property portfolio, as set out above.
Working capital deployment increased by 4.3% or £0.6m but reduced by 3.4% /
£0.4m excluding new space working capital investment, as set out in the 'the
'Continuing to invest cash to deliver the medium-term objectives' section
above.
The deferred tax provision increased £0.8m reflecting temporary differences
between accounting treatment and tax treatment, with the majority of the
movement relating to capital allowances but partially offset by differences
arising from provisions and tax losses.
The Group is focused on delivering an improving return on capital employed
(ROCE), with Adjusted ROCE - being Adjusted EBIT as a ratio of net assets
excluding cash - forming the key metric to track the Group's progress. The
Group's Adjusted ROCE improved by 370 bps to 8.9% (FY25: 5.2%) with the EBIT
growth over indexing versus net assets excluding cash. The Group is focused on
further Adjusted ROCE growth through continuing to invest cash on a selective
basis (e.g. new space), leveraging the cash investments already made (e.g.
digital shelf edge labelling), and operating with an increasingly efficient
working capital structure (e.g. improving stock turn).
The Group continues to be well positioned
The Group sustained the FY25 momentum into FY26 and, entering the new
financial year, it is well positioned to enable further progress towards the
Group's upgraded medium-term through:
· Building scale in terms of both revenue and profitability in the UK and
further improving the competitive positioning of the UK business;
· Participating in the EU market on an increasingly sustainable basis, retaining
optionality over the significant growth opportunity;
· Investing cash in line with our capital allocation policy, to underpin further
growth alongside improving underlying free cashflow and return excess cash to
shareholders though the buyback programme; and
· Delivering improving returns through an increasingly efficient balance sheet
alongside continuing to build profitability.
Sam Copeman
Chief Financial Officer
11 May 2026
(( 1 )) UK stores like-for-like performance incudes all stores that opened on
or before 31 January 2024, so there is a full financial year of comparative.
This includes the Beccles store which closed in November 2025.
(2) UK like-for-like performance includes the total of the UK online business
and the UK like-for-like stores.
Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Consolidated
Note 2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Revenue from contracts with customers 4 103,901 91,339
Cost of sales of goods 7 (64,821) (58,287)
Gross profit 39,080 33,052
Other income 5 136 45
Interest revenue calculated using the effective interest method 385 575
Expenses
Administrative expenses (31,259) (27,301)
Distribution expenses (4,619) (3,754)
Finance costs 7 (851) (659)
Profit before income tax expense 2,872 1,958
Income tax expense 9 (808) (530)
Profit after income tax expense for the year attributable to the owners of 2,064 1,428
Angling Direct PLC
Other comprehensive income
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss
Foreign currency translation 94 (74)
Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax 94 (74)
Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to the owners of Angling 2,158 1,354
Direct PLC
Pence Pence
Basic earnings per share 24 2.81 1.85
Diluted earnings per share 24 2.78 1.84
Consolidated statement of financial position
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Consolidated
Note 2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current assets
Intangibles 10 6,340 6,355
Property, plant and equipment 11 13,831 10,950
Right-of-use assets 12 12,228 12,352
Total non-current assets 32,399 29,657
Current assets
Inventories 13 23,409 21,279
Trade and other receivables 14 865 598
Derivative financial instruments - 15
Income tax refund due 44 37
Prepayments 914 698
Cash and cash equivalents 10,914 12,060
Total current assets 36,146 34,687
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 15 10,429 8,522
Contract liabilities 16 1,085 946
Lease liabilities 17 2,245 2,211
Derivative financial instruments 83 -
Total current liabilities 13,842 11,679
Net current assets 22,304 23,008
Total assets less current liabilities 54,703 52,665
Non-current liabilities
Lease liabilities 17 10,498 10,649
Restoration provision 18 940 922
Deferred tax 19 2,434 1,673
Total non-current liabilities 13,872 13,244
Net assets 40,831 39,421
Equity
Share capital 20 773 773
Treasury shares 20 (1,642) (605)
Share premium 21 31,037 31,037
Reserves 22 1,036 692
Retained profits 9,627 7,524
Total equity 40,831 39,421
The financial statements of Angling Direct PLC (company number 05151321
(England and Wales)) were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised
for issue on 11 May 2026. They were signed on its behalf by:
Steve Crowe
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
11 May 2026
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Share Treasury Share Retained Total equity
premium
capital shares account Reserves profits
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2024 773 - 31,037 619 6,096 38,525
Profit after income tax expense for the year - - - - 1,428 1,428
Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax - - - (74) - (74)
Total comprehensive income for the year - - - (74) 1,428 1,354
Transactions with owners in their capacity as owners:
Share-based payments - - - 147 - 147
Own shares acquired in the year - (605) - - - (605)
Balance at 31 January 2025 773 (605) 31,037 692 7,524 39,421
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Share Treasury Share Retained Total equity
premium
capital shares account Reserves profits
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2025 773 (605) 31,037 692 7,524 39,421
Profit after income tax expense for the year - - - - 2,064 2,064
Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax - - - 94 - 94
Total comprehensive income for the year - - - 94 2,064 2,158
Transactions with owners in their capacity as owners:
Share-based payments - - - 336 - 336
Exercise of share options from treasury shares - 104 - (86) 39 57
Own shares acquired in the year - (1,141) - - - (1,141)
Balance at 31 January 2026 773 (1,642) 31,037 1,036 9,627 40,831
Consolidated statement of cash flows
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before income tax expense for the year 2,872 1,958
Adjustments for:
Depreciation and amortisation 4,663 4,236
Share-based payments 336 147
Net movement in provisions 44 40
Net variance in derivative liabilities 98 (24)
Interest received (385) (575)
Interest and other finance costs 709 643
8,337 6,425
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
(Increase) in trade and other receivables (239) (195)
(Increase) in inventories (2,119) (3,837)
(Increase)/decrease in prepayments (190) 113
Increase in trade and other payables 1,800 1,384
Increase in contract liabilities 139 156
7,728 4,046
Interest received 385 575
Interest and other finance costs (709) (643)
Income taxes (paid)/refunded (58) (97)
Net cash from operating activities 7,346 3,881
Cash flows from investing activities
Payment for purchase of business, net of cash acquired - (740)
Payments for property, plant and equipment (4,639) (3,674)
Payments for intangibles (337) (482)
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment 8 17
Net cash used in investing activities (4,968) (4,879)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares and premium 57 -
Payments for shares buy-back (treasury shares) (1,141) (605)
Repayment of lease liabilities (2,373) (2,007)
Net cash used in financing activities (3,457) (2,612)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (1,079) (3,610)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the financial year 12,060 15,765
Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (67) (95)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year 10,914 12,060
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
For the year ended 31 January 2026
Note 1. Basis of Preparation
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with UK adopted
international accounting standards.
The financial information set out does not constitute the company's statutory
accounts for the years ended 31 January 2026 and 31 January 2025. Statutory
accounts for the years ended 31 January 2026 and 31 January 2025 have been
reported on by the Independent Auditors. The Independent Auditors report on
the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the years ended 31 January 2026
and 31 January 2025 is unqualified.
Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 January 20245 have been filed with
the Registrar of Companies. The statutory accounts of the year ended 31
January 2026 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.
Note 2. Going concern including liquidity
The Group has considerable financial resources together with long-standing
relationships with a number of key suppliers and an established reputation in
the retail sector across the UK and Europe.
The Directors have considered the Group's growth prospects in the period to 31
January 2028 based on its customer proposition and online offering in the UK
and Europe and concluded that potential growth rates remain strong. The Group
has no external finance outside of its right-of-use lease liabilities. The
Group has conducted various stress tests, none of which resulted in a change
to the assessment of the Group as a going concern.
In making this judgement, the Directors have reviewed the future viability and
going concern position of the Group for the foreseeable future.
The Group's policy is to ensure that it has sufficient facilities to cover its
future funding requirements. At 31 January 2026, the Group had cash and cash
equivalents of £10.9m (2025: £12.1m). This significant headroom has been
factored into the Directors' going concern assessment.
Having duly considered all of these factors and having reviewed the forecasts
for the coming year, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the
Group has adequate resources to continue trading for the foreseeable future,
and as such continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in
preparing the financial statements.
Note 3. Segmental reporting
Segment information is presented in respect of the Group's operating segments,
based on the Group's management and internal reporting structure, and
monitored by the Group's Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM).
Identification of reportable operating segments
During the year ended 31 January 2026 the Group's management monitored the
performance based on two operating segments, being (i) the combined e-commerce
platform, retail stores and head office costs in the UK, and (ii) the combined
e-commerce platform and retail store in Europe. This aligns with the Group's
omni-channel strategy and each of these operating segments is managed
separately as each segment requires different specialisms, marketing
approaches and resources.
The Group has restated the previously reported segment information which was:
UK Stores, UK Online, Europe and Head office, for the year ended 31 January
2025 to reflect the new operating segments identified.
The CODM reviews EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation) pre IFRS 16 and IFRS 2 ( "Adjusted EBITDA"). The accounting
policies adopted for internal reporting to the CODM are consistent with those
adopted in the financial statements, save for IFRS 16 and IFRS 2. A full
reconciliation of pre IFRS 16 and IFRS 2 EBITDA to post IFRS 16 and IFRS 2
EBITDA performance is provided to the CODM.
The information reported to the CODM is on a monthly basis.
At 31 January 2026, £31,676,000 of non-current assets are located in the UK
(2025: £28,734,000) and £724,000 of non-current assets are located in the
Netherlands (2025: £924,000).
There are no major customers in the current year and prior year that
contribute more than 10% of the Group's revenue.
Operating segment information
UK Europe Total
Consolidated - 2026 £'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue 99,241 4,660 103,901
Profit/(loss) before income tax expense 3,410 (538) 2,872
EBITDA - post IFRS16 and IFRS 2 8,202 (201) 8,001
Total assets 65,073 3,472 68,545
Total liabilities (27,054) (660) (27,714)
EBITDA Reconciliation
Profit/(loss) before income tax expense 3,410 (538) 2,872
Less: Interest income (385) - (385)
Add: Interest expense 827 24 851
Add: Depreciation and amortisation 4,350 313 4,663
EBITDA post IFRS 16 and IFRS 2 8,202 (201) 8,001
Less: Costs relating to IFRS 16 lease liabilities (3,253) (278) (3,531)
Add: Costs relating to IFRS 2 share-based payments 336 - 336
Adjusted EBITDA 5,285 (479) 4,806
UK Europe Total
Consolidated - 2025 £'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue 86,450 4,889 91,339
Profit/(loss) before income tax expense 2,863 (905) 1,958
EBITDA - post IFRS16 and IFRS 2 6,869 (591) 6,278
Total assets 60,855 3,489 64,344
Total liabilities (23,941) (982) (24,923)
EBITDA Reconciliation
Profit/(loss) before income tax expense 2,863 (905) 1,958
Less: Interest income (575) - (575)
Add: Interest expense 627 32 659
Add: Depreciation and amortisation 3,954 282 4,236
EBITDA post IFRS 16 and IFRS 2 6,869 (591) 6,278
Less: Costs relating to IFRS 16 lease liabilities (2,804) (257) (3,061)
Add: Costs relating to IFRS 2 share-based payments 147 - 147
Adjusted EBITDA 4,212 (848) 3,364
Note 4. Revenue from contracts with customers
Disaggregation of revenue
The disaggregation of revenue from contracts with customers is as follows:
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Route to market
Retail store sales 56,920 51,040
E-commerce sales 46,981 40,299
103,901 91,339
Geographical regions
United Kingdom 99,241 86,449
Europe and Rest of the World 4,660 4,890
103,901 91,339
Timing of revenue recognition
Goods transferred at a point in time 103,901 91,339
Note 5. Other income
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Rental income 136 45
Note 6. EBITDA reconciliation (earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortisation)
The Directors believe that adjusted profit provides additional useful
information for shareholders on performance. This is used for internal
performance analysis. This measure is not defined by IFRS and is not intended
to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measurements of profit. The
following table is provided to show the comparative earnings before interest,
tax, depreciation and amortisation ('EBITDA') after adjusting for rents,
dilapidation charges and associated legal costs, where applicable, relating to
IFRS 16 lease liabilities, and adjusting for IFRS 2 share-based payments.
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
EBITDA reconciliation
Profit before income tax expense 2,872 1,958
Less: Interest income (385) (575)
Add: Interest expense 851 659
Add: Depreciation and amortisation 4,663 4,236
EBITDA post IFRS 16 and IFRS 2 8,001 6,278
Less: costs relating to IFRS 16 lease liabilities (3,531) (3,061)
Add: Costs relating to IFRS 2 share-based payments 336 147
Adjusted EBITDA 4,806 3,364
Note 7. Expenses
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Profit before income tax includes the following specific expenses:
Cost of sales
Cost of inventories as included in 'cost of sales' 64,821 58,287
Depreciation
Land and buildings improvements 8 9
Plant and equipment 1,598 1,314
Motor vehicles 12 4
Computer equipment 184 197
Land and buildings right-of-use assets 2,449 2,239
Plant and equipment right-of-use assets 3 6
Motor vehicles right-of-use assets 55 69
Computer equipment right-of-use assets 2 6
Total depreciation 4,311 3,844
Amortisation
Software 352 392
Total depreciation and amortisation* 4,663 4,236
Finance costs
Interest and finance charges paid/payable on lease liabilities 709 643
Interest and finance charges on restoration provision 44 40
Change in fair value of forward foreign currency hedges 98 (24)
Finance costs expensed 851 659
Foreign exchange gains 40 (33)
Leases
Short-term lease payments 89 39
Low-value assets lease payments 61 52
Total leases expensed 150 91
*Depreciation and amortisation expense is included within "administrative
expenses" in the Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income.
Note 8. Staff costs
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Aggregate remuneration:
Wages and salaries 12,659 11,444
Social security costs 1,480 1,036
Other pension costs 569 526
Total staff costs 14,708 13,006
The average number of employees during the year was as follows:
Consolidated
2026 2025
Stores 362 339
Warehouse 54 49
Administration 44 44
Marketing and digital trading 17 20
IT and web 13 12
Management 10 9
Other 5 5
Average number of employees 505 478
Staff costs above include Directors' salaries, social security costs and other
pension costs.
The average number of Full Time Equivalent employees for the year was 399
(2025: 407).
Note 9. Income tax expense
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Income tax expense
Current tax 51 19
Deferred tax - origination and reversal of temporary differences 759 508
Current tax adjustment recognised for prior periods - 9
Deferred tax adjustment recognised for prior periods (2) (6)
Aggregate income tax expense 808 530
Numerical reconciliation of income tax expense and tax at the statutory rate
Profit before income tax expense 2,872 1,958
Tax at the statutory tax rate of 25% 718 490
Tax effect amounts which are not deductible/(taxable) in calculating taxable
income:
Non-qualifying depreciation 68 4
Non-deductible expenses 24 33
810 527
Adjustment recognised for prior periods (2) 3
Income tax expense 808 530
Note 10. Intangibles
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current assets
Goodwill - at cost 6,015 6,015
Less: Impairment (182) (182)
5,833 5,833
Software - at cost 2,871 2,534
Less: Accumulated amortisation (2,364) (2,012)
507 522
6,340 6,355
Reconciliations
Reconciliations of the written down values at the beginning and end of the
current and previous financial year are set out below:
Goodwill Software Total
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2024 5,620 432 6,052
Additions - 482 482
Additions through business combinations 213 - 213
Amortisation expense - (392) (392)
Balance at 31 January 2025 5,833 522 6,355
Additions - 337 337
Amortisation expense - (352) (352)
Balance at 31 January 2026 5,833 507 6,340
Note 11. Property, plant and equipment
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current assets
Land and buildings improvements - at cost 1,002 1,002
Less: Accumulated depreciation (369) (361)
633 641
Plant and equipment - at cost 18,840 14,759
Less: Accumulated depreciation (6,169) (4,910)
12,671 9,849
Motor vehicles - at cost 186 59
Less: Accumulated depreciation (15) (12)
171 47
Computer equipment - at cost 1,310 1,526
Less: Accumulated depreciation (954) (1,113)
356 413
13,831 10,950
Reconciliations
Reconciliations of the written down values at the beginning and end of the
current and previous financial year are set out below:
Land and Plant and Motor Computer
buildings
improvements equipment vehicles equipment Total
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2024 650 7,509 1 515 8,675
Additions - 3,612 50 93 3,755
Additions through business combinations - 65 - - 65
Disposals - (17) - - (17)
Exchange differences - (6) - 2 (4)
Depreciation expense (9) (1,314) (4) (197) (1,524)
Balance at 31 January 2025 641 9,849 47 413 10,950
Additions - 4,407 140 126 4,673
Disposals - (5) (4) - (9)
Exchange differences - 18 - 1 19
Depreciation expense (8) (1,598) (12) (184) (1,802)
Balance at 31 January 2026 633 12,671 171 356 13,831
Note 12. Right-of-use assets
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current assets
Land and buildings - long leasehold - right-of-use 23,100 22,033
Less: Accumulated depreciation (10,896) (9,765)
12,204 12,268
Plant and equipment - right-of-use 80 80
Less: Accumulated depreciation (72) (69)
8 11
Motor vehicles - right-of-use 163 248
Less: Accumulated depreciation (147) (177)
16 71
Computer equipment - right-of-use 59 59
Less: Accumulated depreciation (59) (57)
- 2
12,228 12,352
Reconciliations
Reconciliations of the written down values at the beginning and end of the
current and previous financial year are set out below:
Land and Plant and Motor Computer
buildings equipment vehicles equipment Total
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2024 11,072 17 140 8 11,237
Additions 3,409 - - - 3,409
Remeasurement 46 - - - 46
Exchange differences (20) - - - (20)
Depreciation expense (2,239) (6) (69) (6) (2,320)
Balance at 31 January 2025 12,268 11 71 2 12,352
Additions 2,363 - - - 2,363
Remeasurement 304 - - - 304
Disposals (305) - - - (305)
Exchange differences 23 - - - 23
Depreciation expense (2,449) (3) (55) (2) (2,509)
Balance at 31 January 2026 12,204 8 16 - 12,228
Note 13. Inventories
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Current assets
Finished goods - at cost 23,409 21,279
Finished goods include £0.07m (2025: £0.05m) of provisions for obsolescence.
The movement in this provision reflects the net realisable value of the
product lines recognised through the statement of profit or loss during the
year to 31 January 2026.
Note 14. Trade and other receivables
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Current assets
Trade receivables 2 76
Other receivables 863 522
865 598
Note 15. Trade and other payables
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Current liabilities
Trade payables 6,040 5,028
Accrued expenses 2,366 1,970
Refund liabilities 44 36
Social security and other taxes 1,050 687
Other payables 929 801
10,429 8,522
Note 16. Contract liabilities
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Current liabilities
Contract liabilities 1,085 946
Reconciliation
Reconciliation of the written down values at the beginning and end of the
current and previous financial year are set out below:
Opening balance (Contract liabilities at the start of the year) 946 790
Issued in year 3,704 2,967
Redeemed in year (3,565) (2,811)
Closing balance (Contract liabilities at the end of the year) 1,085 946
The contract liabilities primarily relate to unredeemed vouchers and gift
cards. This will be recognised as revenue when the vouchers and gift cards are
redeemed by customers, which is expected to occur over the next two years.
Note 17. Lease liabilities
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Current liabilities
Lease liability 2,245 2,211
Non-current liabilities
Lease liability 10,498 10,649
12,743 12,860
Note 18. Restoration provision
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current liabilities
Restoration provision 940 922
Movements in provisions
Movements in each class of provision during the current financial year, are
set out below:
Restoration
provision
Consolidated - 2026 £'000
Carrying amount at the start of the year 922
Additional provisions recognised 104
Unwinding of discount 45
Provisions released on disposal (134)
Effects of movement in exchange rates 3
Carrying amount at the end of the year 940
Note 19. Deferred tax
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Non-current liabilities
Deferred tax liability comprises temporary differences attributable to:
Property, plant and equipment 2,977 2,132
IFRS 16 transitional adjustment (47) (47)
Options issued (268) (184)
Tax losses (228) (228)
Deferred tax liability 2,434 1,673
Movements:
Opening balance 1,673 1,171
Charged/(credited) to profit or loss 759 508
Adjustment recognised for prior periods 2 (6)
Closing balance 2,434 1,673
Note 20. Share capital
Consolidated
2026 2025 2026 2025
Shares Shares £'000 £'000
Ordinary shares of £0.01 each - fully paid 77,267,304 77,267,304 773 773
Share buy-back (treasury shares) - - (1,642) (605)
Note 21. Share premium
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Share premium account 31,037 31,037
The share premium account is used to recognise the difference between the
issued share capital at nominal value and the capital received, net of
transaction costs.
Note 22. Reserves
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Foreign currency reserve 51 (43)
Share-based payments reserve 985 735
1,036 692
Foreign currency reserve
The foreign currency translation reserve comprises exchange differences
relating to the translation of the net assets of the Group's foreign
subsidiary from their functional currency into the parent's functional
currency.
Share-based payments reserve
The reserve is used to recognise the value of equity benefits provided to
employees and Directors as part of their remuneration, and other parties as
part of their compensation for services.
Movements in reserves
Movements in each class of reserve during the current and previous financial
year are set out below:
Foreign Share-based
currency payments Total
Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance at 1 February 2024 31 588 619
Foreign currency translation gains (74) - (74)
Options granted - 147 147
Balance at 31 January 2025 (43) 735 692
Foreign currency translation gains 94 - 94
Options exercised - (86) (86)
Options granted - 336 336
Balance at 31 January 2026 51 985 1,036
Note 23. Dividends
There were no dividends paid, recommended or declared during the current or
previous financial year.
Note 24. Earnings per share
Consolidated
2026 2025
£'000 £'000
Profit after income tax attributable to the owners of Angling Direct PLC 2,064 1,428
Number Number
Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in calculating basic earnings 73,476,612 77,139,433
per share
Adjustments for calculation of diluted earnings per share:
Options over ordinary shares 643,098 618,263
Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in calculating diluted 74,119,710 77,757,696
earnings per share
Pence Pence
Basic earnings per share 2.81 1.85
Diluted earnings per share 2.78 1.84
Note 25. Events after the reporting period
On 13 February 2026, the Group acquired the business and assets of Jack Frost
Tackle Limited (a company registered in England and Wales) for consideration
of £0.13m. The business comprised of a single angling retail store in
Crawley, UK.
The initial accounting for this acquisition is incomplete given the proximity
to the year end.
The Company has continued its buyback programme since the 31 January 2026. All
buybacks are published daily at
https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/corporate/investors/regulatory-news/.
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