Fishing tackle retailer Angling Direct (ANG) reeled in record UK sales for FY26. The AIM-listed company also netted pre-tax profits of £2.9 million, up almost 50% year-on-year.
In addition, the Norfolk-headquartered firm demonstrated confidence in its ability to continue taking market share by upgrading medium-term growth targets.
These include growing UK sales and EBITDA to £125 million and £8 million-plus respectively, whilst building a sustainable European business.
So why did the shares slide in early dealings? Well, Angling Direct warned it has seen ‘softer trading’ since the onset of the Middle East conflict. And the UK’s biggest specialist fishing tackle seller also said the war is pushing up costs.
Uncertain outlook
The reels-to-rods seller said the strong momentum seen in FY26 flowed over into FY27. Group revenue in February grew 9.7% and UK revenue rose 11.8%.
‘However, following the onset of the Middle East conflict, the group has experienced softer trading,’ conceded Angling Direct. In March and April, group revenue growth slowed to 5.4% while UK growth moderated to 7.6%.
The scales-to-bait boxes seller explained that higher fuel and freight costs arising from the war are ‘relatively insignificant’ and have been ‘fully mitigated’ through savings elsewhere. As such, FY27 guidance is not impacted ‘at this stage’.
Netting profitable growth
Outlook uncertainty overshadowed outstanding results for the year to January 2026. Despite the challenging backdrop, group revenue increased by 13.8% to £103.9 million. And adjusted pre-tax profits surged 44% to £2.9 million.
Angling Direct achieved record UK sales of £99.2 million. That was up almost 15% year-on-year and reflected double-digit growth both online and in its retail stores.
New catchments
‘Our MyAD loyalty and repeat purchase membership club continues to underpin our success,’ commented CEO Steve Crowe, ‘and it has gone from strength to strength with UK membership in the year increasing 46.8% to over 600,000.’
Crowe continued: ‘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.’
In Europe, adjusted EBITDA losses reduced by nearly a third to £500,000. ‘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’, noted Angling Direct.
Canaccord Genuity reiterated its ‘buy’ rating and 78p price target. The broker argues Angling Direct’s current valuation is too low ‘given the domestic and international growth potential and does not reflect the group’s market-leading position or potential for further consolidation.’
For Singer Capital Markets, the key take-away is that Angling Direct has ‘a clear strategy, an increasingly robust and competitively advantaged platform for growth and proven management team.
‘Despite the uncertainties, upgraded medium-term objectives have been set out including return on capital employed (ROCE) targets, addressing a pivotal issue.’
We are fans of Angling Direct and regard this share price decline as a buying opportunity.
The fishing tackle and equipment specialist has the balance sheet strength to navigate this challenging backdrop.
Furthermore, its MyAD app continues to be a powerful differentiator for the business. The loyalty scheme should help Angling Direct capture market share over the summer fishing season.
Read the press release here: https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/corporate/investors/regulatory-news/
You might also like these stories:
