Turner said that Middle East tensions and a downturn in travel to the United States had “hit our business hard” during the fourth quarter, and that locally there was a shift to shorter-haul international destinations, with Japan and New Zealand the heroes instead of the UK and US.
Despite the headwinds, Turner was buoyant about the progress made in FY25 and the future for the company.
“The business has transformed from a large bricks-and-mortar network (1,500 outlets pre-COVID, 590 now) into a diversified, capital-light ecosystem with scalable volume growth, access to high-margin categories, and a future blueprint incorporating Al and loyalty,” he enthused.
“We are taking decisive action to manage short-term challenges while positioning the business for sustainable, long-term success.”
Turner also pointed out that “additional benefits are expected in the FY26 second half from Global Business Services efficiency programs, which aim to reduce costs across support areas with a combined monthly cost base of approximately $20 million”.
FCTG is targeting underlying profit before tax of $305 million-$340 million, a 5.5%-17.6% increase on FY25, with earnings for the first half tracking to be “broadly in line” with last year, implying a second half profit skew that reflects traditional seasonality.
Turner suggested a more significant turnaround in Asia given the FY25 struggles, tailwinds from cost-out initiatives, and the likelihood of more stable trading during key periods.
He also flagged a margin improvement if strong TTV growth in core brands continued, which would also help boost the second half skew.
