Universal Store Holdings Limited (ASX:UNI) Announces FY25 Results
Financial Performance
Universal Store Holdings Limited reported FY25 sales of $333.3 million, a 15.5% increase compared to the prior corresponding period. The underlying EBIT rose by 15.9% to $54.6 million, driven by sales growth, gross profit improvement, and cost control. Gross profit margin expanded by 100 basis points to 61.1% despite continued discounting from peers. The Cost of Doing Business (CODB) increased by 130 basis points to 33.1% of sales due to investments in team capability, cost inflation, and higher bonus expenses reflecting stronger trading results.
Business Update
The US division achieved strong FY25 like-for-like sales growth of 13.0%, with five new stores opened and four store relocations during the year. Perfect Stranger expanded to 19 stores, reporting a 25.5% increase in like-for-like sales. The CTC segment experienced a decline in sales by 9.8% compared to the prior period, driven by decreased wholesale sales of the THRILLS brand.
Dividend Declaration
Universal Store declared a final FY25 dividend of 16.5 cents per share, resulting in a full-year dividend of 38.5 cents per share. This represents an 80% payout ratio on underlying profit and an 8.5% increase from FY24.
Balance Sheet
The Group maintains a strong balance sheet with a closing cash balance of $17.2 million and no borrowings, excluding lease liabilities. Inventory increased to $33.3 million due to the expanded store network and investment for customer demand.
Motley Fool contributor Kiarra Jackson has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
This article was generated using GPT-4o mini, a Large Language Model (LLM), to generate summaries of investing news. While AI is generating the content, we know better than to blindly trust our future robot overlords, and every article is edited and fact-checked by an editor holding the appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of everything published by The Capital Club.
