Portmeirion’s 2025 results are one of those updates where the top line looks calm, but the profit line tells the real story. Revenue was effectively flat at £91.1 million, yet the group swung to a headline loss before tax of £3.6 million and a statutory loss before tax of £7.2 million.
The short version is this: the business did okay in many places, but the US – its biggest and most profitable market – was badly disrupted by tariffs in the first half. Add higher energy, National Insurance and wage costs, plus investment in bringing more production back to Stoke-on-Trent, and profits took a proper knock.
Portmeirion 2025 preliminary results: the key numbers investors need to know
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £91.1 million | £91.2 million |
| Headline profit/(loss) before tax | £(3.6) million | £1.1 million |
| Statutory profit/(loss) before tax | £(7.2) million | £0.0 million |
| Headline EBITDA | £2.6 million | £7.3 million |
| Free cash flow | £(5.7) million | £(3.7) million |
| Net debt | £17.5 million | £12.1 million |
| Basic earnings per share | (45.3p) | 2.50p |
| Dividend for the year | Nil | 1.50p |
That is clearly a weak set of financials. Flat sales are fine in a choppy market, but a £4.7 million swing in headline profit before tax is the bit that matters.
US tariffs hit Portmeirion where it hurts most – North America
The biggest drag was North America, which makes up 39% of group sales. Sales there fell 7% year on year in constant currency – meaning exchange rate moves are stripped out – to £36.6 million from £39.7 million.
Management says tariffs caused major disruption in the first half, and the group also made deliberate changes to its US product range and distribution. That included pulling Spode from some off-price channels and cancelling some China-made seasonal lines. Painful in the short term, but it is meant to protect pricing and brand quality longer term.
That matters because this is not just a story of weak demand. In fact, the company says most customers saw strong sell-through – how quickly retailers sell products to end customers – of Christmas lines in the fourth quarter, especially online. So the brands still seem to have appeal.
- Group revenue: £91.1 million, flat year on year
- Excluding the US, group sales were up 8.6% in constant currency
- International markets grew 14.3% in constant currency
- South Korea grew 25.6% in constant currency
- UK sales rose 1% to £32.6 million
That mix is encouraging. It shows the problem was concentrated, not universal.
Why Portmeirion’s headline loss and statutory loss both matter
Portmeirion reported a headline loss before tax of £3.6 million, but the statutory loss before tax was worse at £7.2 million. The gap comes mainly from a £2.9 million additional inventory provision and £0.7 million of restructuring costs.
An inventory provision is an accounting write-down when stock is worth less than previously thought. In Portmeirion’s case, this was tied to clearing excess aged and second-quality inventory more responsibly. That is ugly in the numbers, but it can also be sensible housekeeping if it frees up cash and cleans up the balance sheet.
I think investors should treat this as a mix of bad news and necessary medicine. The bad news is obvious: profitability has fallen sharply. The more constructive view is that management appears to be dealing with stock issues now rather than pretending they will fix themselves.
Portmeirion balance sheet: higher net debt, no dividend and a real going concern warning
This is the part that deserves the closest attention. Net debt rose to £17.5 million from £12.1 million, while free cash flow was an outflow of £5.7 million.
The board is not proposing a dividend, which had already been signalled. That will disappoint income investors, but frankly it looks sensible given where debt and profits are. If you are trying to rebuild a balance sheet, paying cash out the door would be hard to justify.
There is also a genuine financing risk here. Barclays has already agreed covenant waivers and amendments, and the group is moving towards a new £36 million asset-backed lending facility. That facility has been fully credit approved by the bank, but legal documentation was still being completed at the time of the announcement.
Most importantly, the annual report says there is a material uncertainty related to going concern. That does not mean collapse is imminent. It means the directors believe the business can continue, but under a plausible downside scenario they would need to take mitigating actions to stay within banking covenants.
That warning should not be brushed aside. The reverse stress test suggests revenue could decline by around 9.5% against forecast from April 2026 before a covenant breach. In plain English, the margin for error is not huge.
Elevating Portmeirion strategy: Made in Stoke-on-Trent, licensing and a leadership refresh
The company is trying to fix more than one issue at once. Its new strategy, called Elevating Portmeirion, focuses on higher returns, a fortress balance sheet, focused expansion and operational excellence.
One of the more interesting operational moves is onshoring more production to Stoke-on-Trent. Around 33.7% of branded tableware production was made there in 2025, up by around 7% versus 2024. That hurt margins in the short term because UK energy and labour costs are high, but management believes the medium-term benefits are better responsiveness, stronger brand equity and improved customer appeal.
There are some early signs that this is working. The company flagged strong growth in sell-through of UK-made Spode Christmas Tree tableware and key like-for-like Christmas lines.
There are also some practical growth levers coming through:
- Wax Lyrical has been classed as non-core and a disposal will be sought in due course
- A product licence deal has been signed with Ashley Wilde
- The US Amazon sales team has been brought in-house
- More than £2 million of excess inventory deals have been agreed since year end
The leadership team is changing too. Michael Scheepers is due to become chief executive in the week commencing 11 May 2026, subject to regulatory checks, replacing Mike Raybould.
What Portmeirion shareholders should watch in 2026
The company says trading in the first quarter of 2026 was ahead of last year, with growth in the US and International markets. That is a positive start, and it lines up with the better second-half trend seen in 2025.
There are a couple of possible balance sheet boosts, but I would be careful not to count them too early. Portmeirion has submitted a $3 million tariff refund claim in the US and is still pursuing a separate $0.8 million Employee Retention Credits claim. Helpful if received, but not cash in the bank today.
My overall take is fairly straightforward. The 2025 numbers are weak, and the balance sheet risk is real. But the update is not devoid of hope: non-US trading was good, Christmas lines performed well, Q1 2026 has started better, and management is clearly taking action rather than standing still.
For retail investors, this now looks like a turnaround story with proper upside if execution improves – but also with more risk than the brand heritage alone might suggest. In other words, Portmeirion has attractive assets and recognisable names, but 2026 needs to bring more than optimism. It needs to bring cash generation, debt reduction and proof that the US reset is working.
