Currys half-year results: profit up 144%, cash flowing, and £75m heading back to shareholders
Currys has served up a strong first half to 1 November 2025. Adjusted profit before tax jumped to £22m, up 144% year-on-year, with free cash flow up 68% to £84m. Sales momentum improved in both regions, but the real standout is the Nordics, where profit recovery is accelerating. The UK & Ireland is growing well, albeit with stubborn cost headwinds.
The board has kept full-year guidance unchanged and is returning £75m to shareholders this year through a £50m buyback (£30m completed) and a 0.75p interim dividend.
Key numbers investors should know
| Metric | H1 2025/26 | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £4,230m | +8% reported (+6% currency neutral) |
| Like-for-like (LFL) sales | +4% | – |
| Adjusted EBIT | £54m | +32% (margin 1.3%, +30 bps) |
| Adjusted PBT | £22m | +144% |
| Free cash flow | £84m | +68% |
| Net cash (period end) | £133m | +£26m YoY |
| UK & Ireland adjusted EBIT | £19m | £(4)m YoY |
| Nordics adjusted EBIT | £35m | +94% |
| Interim dividend | 0.75p | Declared |
| Share buyback | £50m | £30m completed |
Quick jargon check: LFL measures sales growth from stores and online operations that were open in both periods. Adjusted EBIT is operating profit excluding one-off or non-trading items. Recurring service revenue combines commission, support services and connectivity.
UK & Ireland: growth is strong, costs bite
The UK & Ireland grew revenue by 6% (LFL +4%) and gained market share by 60 bps in a market down 1.2%. Strategic initiatives did the heavy lifting: recurring service revenue rose 11%, credit adoption increased 160 bps to 23.3%, B2B sales were up 16%, and new categories jumped 35%.
On the flip side, adjusted EBIT fell to £19m at a 0.8% margin (down 20 bps). The culprit is largely government-driven increases in wages and National Insurance, which pushed up supply chain and service costs. Gross margin fell 40 bps, partly offset by cost savings and operating leverage. The cost-to-sales ratio improved by 20 bps, which is encouraging.
- iD Mobile subscribers rose 21% to 2.4 million, tracking ahead of the 2.5 million year-end target.
- Services and solutions are becoming a larger slice of the pie: in the UK&I they represented 13% of sales from recurring services, and 30.4% including credit.
- Operational upgrades matter: electronic shelf labels are now in all 296 stores, improving pricing agility and freeing colleague time.
My take: top-line momentum and share gains show the model is working. The drag is wage and NI inflation. The discipline on margins and costs is helping, but investors should expect H1’s profit squeeze until those cost headwinds ease or pricing and mix do more of the lifting.
Nordics: profit recovery is accelerating
The Nordics delivered what the UK couldn’t this half: profitable growth at scale. Revenue rose 7% currency neutral (LFL +4%). Adjusted EBIT nearly doubled to £35m, lifting margin to 2.0% (+90 bps). Online sales grew 20% currency neutral, store sales also increased, and solutions mix improved enough to hold gross margins steady despite some hedging headwinds.
- Category strength was broad-based; computing led the way, with Epoq kitchens up 30%.
- Market share dipped 60 bps as Currys chose not to chase less profitable volume, notably in Finland – a positive trade-off if it sustains margin repair.
- Giga Mobiili (MVNO) launched in Finland with strong early uptake – early days, but it mirrors the UK’s connectivity value-add.
My take: this is the engine of the H1 beat. Stable gross margins plus tight cost control created proper operating leverage. The market is improving and Currys is taking the quality route over raw share, which should keep profits on an upward path.
Cash, balance sheet and capital returns
Cash generation is the quiet hero. Operating cash flow climbed to £76m, with free cash flow at £84m, helped by a £86m working capital inflow – particularly strong in the Nordics. After £82m of pension contributions (front-loaded this half) and £46m of shareholder returns, the group still ended with net cash of £133m.
- Buyback: £50m announced, £30m completed. The remaining £20m will be completed no later than 30 April 2026, subject to market conditions.
- Dividend: 0.75p interim. Total cash returned this year is £75m.
- Pension: accounting deficit reduced to £16m. Triennial funding deficit is £134m, with contributions dropping to £13m per annum from 2026/27 for five years, then ceasing.
Capital allocation is sensible: Currys aims to keep at least £100m net cash, grow the ordinary dividend, and return surplus capital via buybacks. That should support EPS while the turnaround compounds.
Guidance and medium-term targets
Trading since period end is in line with expectations. Full-year guidance is maintained: profit and free cash flow growth remain the goal.
- FY items: total interest expense of £60-65m; capex around £90m; exceptional cash outflow around £40m (higher due to a prudent pause in UK server migration until after Peak).
- Longer-term: at least 3% adjusted EBIT margin targeted in both UK&I and Nordics. Annual capex kept below £100m and exceptional cash costs below £10m by 2026/27.
- Cash tax to remain below adjusted P&L tax for a while, helped by pension contributions and tax losses.
My take: the 3% margin ambition in both regions is credible if the Nordics trajectory holds and UK&I can keep mixing towards services, credit and B2B while managing labour cost inflation.
What’s good, what’s not
Positives
- Profits and cash are moving the right way – adjusted PBT +144%, free cash flow +68%.
- Nordics profit recovery is real: margin +90 bps with cost discipline and better mix.
- UK&I is growing and taking share despite a weak market, with services and credit driving stickier, higher-margin revenue.
- Healthy balance sheet and clear capital returns framework – £75m going back this year.
- Pension burden de-risking with lower future contributions from 2026/27.
Watch-outs
- UK&I margin is under pressure from wage and NI increases – management is offsetting, but it’s still a drag.
- Exceptional cash costs nudged up to around £40m due to the cloud migration pause – the right call for Peak, but a short-term cash headwind.
- Contingent tax exposures from legacy cases exist (potential range not disclosed beyond what’s in the RNS), though management sees outflows as not probable.
- Seasonality: Peak (Black Friday to post-Christmas) remains pivotal for the full-year outcome.
What to watch next
- Peak trading update on Wednesday 21 January 2026 – the key proof point for full-year guidance.
- UK&I gross margin and cost trends – do services, credit and B2B continue to offset wage/NI inflation?
- Nordics margin sustainability – can 2.0% EBIT margin step higher without sacrificing price discipline?
- iD Mobile growth – subscribers at 2.4 million and tracking ahead of the 2.5 million year-end target.
- Buyback restart and completion of the remaining £20m by 30 April 2026, subject to market conditions.
Bottom line: a firmer, cash-generative Currys
This is a tidy half-year: revenue growth, a big swing in profit, and strong free cash flow. The Nordics is doing the heavy lifting on margins; the UK&I is growing through services, credit and B2B while wrestling with cost inflation. With net cash of £133m and a clear plan to return capital, the equity story is getting cleaner. Execution through Peak, continued margin discipline, and steady progress towards the 3% margin target are the levers to watch.
