Angling Direct ends year ahead of recently-upgraded expectations
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 26 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - Angling Direct said in an update on Thursday that it expects to report adjusted EBITDA of around £4.8m for the year ended 31 January, ahead of recently upgraded market expectations, after delivering record revenues despite a challenging UK consumer backdrop.
The AIM-traded fishing tackle retailer said total revenue rose 13.8% to £103.9m, compared with £91.3m in the 2025 financial.
Total UK sales increased 14.8% to £99.2m, with UK retail store sales up 11.1% to £56.4m and UK online sales rising 20.0% to £42.8m.
European sales declined 4.7% to £4.7m.
Like-for-like UK revenue growth, including stores and online, was 11.9%, reflecting the continued expansion of the MyAD omni-channel loyalty club and initiatives to improve product ranging, availability and own-brand penetration.
The company said the performance meant it had substantially delivered its medium-term objective of achieving £100m of UK revenues within two years.
UK like-for-like store sales grew 5.8%, supported by increased footfall and higher transaction volumes.
Angling Direct opened six new stores during the year, in Chester, Burnley, Bradford, Stourport, Grimsby and Croydon, and closed one underperforming site, taking its estate to 58 stores across England and Wales.
New stores opened in 2025 and 2026 contributed £5.6m of additional sales in the year.
European online sales fell to £4.1m from £4.6m as the group focussed on Germany and the Netherlands while working to reduce operating losses and position the division for longer-term profitability.
Net cash as at 31 January was £10.9m, down from £12.1m a year earlier, reflecting investment in new stores, technology and £1.1m returned to shareholders through its share buyback programme in the financial year.
Since launching the programme in December 2024, the company had returned around £1.7m to shareholders, equivalent to 6% of its issued share capital.
"2026 was the best year in Angling Direct's history, delivering record revenues and profits despite the persistent challenging consumer backdrop in the UK," said chief executive Steve Crowe.
He added that the group had grown its MyAD loyalty club to more than 600,000 members and had "substantially" achieved its £100m medium-term revenue target, with the board intending to update its medium-term ambitions at the full-year results in May.
Consensus market expectations prior to the update were for revenue of £102m and pre-IFRS 16 adjusted EBITDA of £4.35m.
At 1120 GMT, shares in Angling Direct were up 3.22% at 52.64p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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