BUSINESS REVIEW

We made further strategic and operational progress in the first half of the year, against an uncertain market backdrop. Like-for-like revenue for the Group was broadly flat, continuing the trend from the final quarter of the previous financial year, with the Group in marginal growth in Q2. Trading in EMEA continued to be impacted by soft PMI and industrial production data, while performance in Americas and Asia Pacific was more resilient. At a Group level, our supplier data indicates that we are outperforming the market and gaining market share in most of our product categories.  

We continue to invest in strategic initiatives to accelerate growth, improve efficiency and drive better operating leverage over time. In the absence of market recovery, the benefits of these initiatives are yet to be reflected in our financial performance. However, we are already beginning to see them driving improvement in some of our key underlying operational metrics, providing resilience for the Group, and our growth accelerators are delivering. We achieved an additional £9 million of restructuring and integration benefits in H1 2025/26, taking the cumulative total since April 2023 to £47 million, well ahead of our initial expectations.

Our performance underpins our confidence both in our strategy and in delivering on our medium-term financial targets to generate stronger returns and long-term sustainable value, particularly once markets demonstrate more sustained recovery.

First half financial performance as expected

We delivered financial performance in line with our expectations in the first half of 2025/26. Like-for-like revenue reduced by 1% compared to the same period last year, with growth in Americas and Asia Pacific offset by a decline in EMEA against a continuing backdrop of soft markets. Group like-for-like revenue in the second quarter was up 1%, continuing the underlying trend of stabilisation we saw in the first quarter and the fourth quarter of last year. First quarter like-for-like revenue was down 2%, which was adversely impacted by our significant projects to upgrade our digital commerce platform in Americas and the closure of a Distrelec distribution centre in EMEA.

Average order value increased by 3% to £257, although we saw reductions in average order frequency and in the number of customers in our Key customer segment, with the weak economic environment impacting demand. In line with our strategy to grow share of customer wallet, we delivered 4% like-for-like revenue growth from our Corporate customer segment. Higher uptake of our eProcurement solution from these larger customers was a major factor in 7% like-for-like revenue growth in service solutions. We also continue to drive revenue growth in our own-brand RS PRO products, up 4% like-for-like. At a product category level, the more resilient product categories of Facilities & Maintenance and Mechanical & Fluid Power continue to outperform in EMEA, with Americas delivering improved Automation & Control (A&C) and Electrification revenues. Demand for Semis & Passives remained weak across the Group.

Gross margin was 43.1%, up 0.4 percentage points on last year, as we start to see some benefits from inflation and active price management. Adjusted operating costs were broadly flat, with restructuring savings and focused cost management helping offset the impact of cost inflation and continued strategic investment to improve the business. Adjusted operating profit of £122 million was 8% lower than the same period last year, or 7% lower on a like-for-like basis. The adjusted operating profit margin was 0.5 percentage points lower at 8.7%, largely reflecting the planned increase in spend on our strategic investments.

Continued good working capital management resulted in adjusted operating cash flow conversion of 107%, well in excess of our greater than 80% target. Net debt fell by £31 million over the first six months of the year to £333 million, and our balance sheet remains strong, with net debt to adjusted EBITDA reducing to 1.0x.       

Strategic and operational investment delivering  

We continue to progress with our multi-year strategic growth and operational improvement plan to strengthen our differentiated proposition and accelerate growth, improve efficiency and drive better operating leverage over time. These organic investments are already driving improvement in some of our key underlying operational metrics, providing resilience and delivery in our growth accelerators.

People

Create an inclusive and engaging environment where everyone is proud and excited to come to work, perform at their best, thrive and grow.

We continue to strengthen our senior leadership team through a mix of external hires, internal promotions and increased investment in training and mobility. We are also enhancing our people management capability, including through the introduction of our Leadership Advantage Programme to around 100 senior leaders across the globe. We have enhanced our programme management capabilities and discipline, rolling out an 'RS Way of Change and Program Management' to improve prioritisation, address interdependencies and drive better execution combined with time allocation tracking systems for informed decision making.

Maintaining and improving employee engagement at all levels remains a key priority. Our recent employee engagement survey again demonstrated high levels of engagement, with a one point increase in the engagement score to 73 despite the challenging markets and the level of change taking place across the Group. We have also recognised the contribution of our employees below senior leadership level through the introduction of an
all-employee share scheme and in July made an award of shares to all eligible employees with the aim of driving further engagement and shared ownership.

Customers 

Focus on higher value customers through harnessing data, effective strategic engagement, and optimising cost to serve.

A key driver of our strategy is to grow our number, and share of wallet, of higher potential value customers. This will be achieved through data driven insights and targeted omnichannel engagement that delivers a tailored value proposition and personalised experience with an optimised cost to serve. This is enabled through the creation of consistent and connected customer data, engagement and management platforms coordinated across all channels.

In H1 2025/26 we completed the design and build of our customer data master platform, bringing together all our customer data to create consistent and unique insights into our customers and their potential, globally. We have developed granular, potential-based, segmentation models, and cleansed, uploaded and matched 90% of our customer data across EMEA and Asia Pacific. In H2 2025/26, we will be using this insight to develop prioritised customer targeting, based on potential, to effectively deploy our sales and marketing efforts for activation in 2026/27, initially in our EMEA region.

We have also developed our customer data platform to allow us to build opportunity-based personalised experiences - online and offline - to better attract and nurture a larger share of customer wallet. We are now beginning to integrate our master data with our customer data platform to enable real time activation of customers. Ultimately, we will be able to do this across all channels, using other engagement platforms such as our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and upgraded digital commerce engine. In parallel, we will be using agile working techniques and our cleansed and unique data to design, experiment with and launch tailored and more effective 'always-on' omnichannel marketing campaigns.

We completed the rollout of our global CRM tool in 2024/25. This is foundational to allow us to focus on higher value customers and we have now recorded over 340,000 customer interactions. This has already enabled our sales teams to identify more than 50,000 new sales opportunities and, leveraging the richer insight into our customers, drive increased win rates and deal sizes, and 4% like-for-like revenue growth from our Corporate customer segment in H1 2025/26. These insights will be significantly enhanced, driving greater opportunity and further improved conversion rates once we complete the integration of our CRM tool with our customer data platform and ultimately with our upgraded digital commerce engine as it rolls out over time.

Product and suppliers

Deliver a seamless, mutually value creative supplier experience with appropriate and data driven breadth, depth and range curation.

Our upgraded Product Management Solution, launched last year, removed system constraints when introducing new products. This allows faster and more targeted management of our curated product range, while the new localisation and product information capabilities created will allow us to improve product content further for customers. Average monthly new product introductions tripled to more than 30,000 in H1 2025/26, with a 30% increase in monthly sales of new products. It also allows us to improve our inventory management with one third of over 300,000 new products launched in the past twelve months stocked and two thirds unstocked.

There is increasing recognition by suppliers of the value to them of omnichannel distributors and we continue to expand and strengthen our top supplier relationships, through a programme of increased collaboration at Group, regional and local levels. This has given us access to broader ranges of products and enhanced technical product expertise to support our customers.

We continue to invest in margin optimisation capability, and in H1 2025/26 we invested further in more dynamic and data-based pricing capability using availability and price elasticity. This has been successfully trialled in North America and we plan to standardise and systemise this in H2 2025/26 before rolling it out more widely across the Group next year. Our enhanced pricing capability has also been integral in allowing us to navigate global trade uncertainty effectively, including the impact of tariffs. It allowed us to manage 3x the historic volume of price changes in H1 2025/26, ensuring that our pricing better reflects the current cost of products, and that gross margin is optimised to give us greater flexibility in support of both suppliers and customers.

Solutions

Deliver valued, scalable solutions to build greater strategic engagement and drive product pull-through.

We continue to scale our digital procurement solutions, with eProcurement like-for-like revenue growth of 9% reflecting our focus on deepening relationships with our higher value customers. Performance was particularly strong in Americas, with the launch of our re-engineered eProcurement solution helping drive like-for-like revenue growth of 22%. We are also upgrading our Purchasing Manager solution in support of our Key customer segment, with introduction planned for 2026/27.

In RS Integrated Supply (RSIS), we continued to improve efficiency, simplify the business model and focus our offer on attractive industry vertical sectors. In H1 2025/26 we delivered 6% like-for-like revenue growth and improved operating profit. We also continued to invest in our innovative and data-led proprietary technology solution for full sourced Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) procurement. This included the incorporation of a mobile application, tariff functionality, automated sourcing capability and multi-site inventory visibility within the tailored marketplace function. RSIS also continues to collaborate more closely with the rest of the Group to better support RSIS customers' MRO spend, while ensuring the independence that is important for other RSIS suppliers.

Experience

Strengthen and tailor our customer experience to provide a digitally-enabled, seamless omnichannel service relevant for our customers' needs.

We completed the rollout of our AI-enabled web search capabilities in 2024/25, which continues to deliver enhanced "findability" across our ranges. This resulted in an increase in the 'Add to Cart' rate from visits containing a search from 18.0% to 18.4%. During the first half, we also launched a new Basket & Checkout experience, with the basket to order conversion rate up from 39% to 41% post-implementation.

We launched the initial version of our upgraded Adobe-based digital commerce engine to support enhanced web search experience and more granular data capture in Mexico at the end of 2024/25. In H1 2025/26, we continued the phased development and enhancement of this digital commerce capability, launching it in the US. We continue to tune the website and customer experience journey, and web orders are close to where they were before launch as we put in place fixes to resolve some interface issues which impacted web sales in Q1 in particular. We are now seeing much improved core web metrics on the new platform, with website load times a third quicker than the old system.  Learnings from the US upgrade have been adopted, and we plan to introduce the new platform in our first EMEA market in 2026/27.

Continued development of our Enterprise Data Platform through 2024/25 has enabled us to run AI and machine learning over our data more easily and it analysed over 100,000 customer interactions in the first half, helping us to identify and implement areas of improvement to the customer journey.

We released our deliver-to-promise solution in 2024/25, which provides more accurate and reliable delivery information to our customers. This launch initially resulted in some cancellations and returns due to real lead time visibility. However, with the release of the customer facing module, and as we upgrade with further features and capabilities such as live availability, this is resulting in an improved customer experience, with cancellations and returns now at or below historical levels.

Operational excellence

Deliver efficient physical, digital and process infrastructure, improved operating leverage and marginal
drop-through.

In the first half, we made good progress against all three aspects of our operational excellence pillar:

 

 

Leveraging our physical infrastructure

We continue to invest in our distribution network to ensure we are ready for growth, having added capacity to our distribution centre at Beauvais in France and broken ground on upgraded facilities in Italy and Ireland. Meanwhile, the upgrade of our UK automated warehouse management system continues, with the final phase planned for 2026/27.

Migration of Distrelec's distribution centre in the Netherlands to our Bad Hersfeld facility in Germany was completed at the end of June. This will save us more than €10 million from reduced annual costs and deliver increased operational gearing through the use of existing infrastructure.

Optimising our technology estate

We are simplifying our technology estate and having removed around 40 applications in 2024/25 we have decommissioned c. 100 more in H1 2025/26. This includes, as part of the Distrelec integration, the decommissioning of redundant search and discovery tools across the Group, simplifying our processes and removing unnecessary licence costs. Our active management of applications is creating space for the shift into a more
licence-based "software as a service" technology model.

As part of the upgrade programme we are undertaking across our technology estate, we are optimising and increasing the capacity of our test environment. This will create additional bandwidth for experimentation and pre-release testing of our applications with more detail and current data. Preparation for the upgrade of our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is on track and we are now moving into the design and build phase.

Harmonising and improving our processes

Middle and back-office transformation began in 2024/25 and has continued through the first half. We have now completed the preparation phase and detailed process reviews towards our goal to standardise non-differentiating Group-wide processes.

We also continue to optimise product flow through our distribution network, and in H1 2025/26 we reduced the number of times a product was handled more than once from 52% to 40%, resulting in a lower cost to serve.

Advancing sustainability for a better world

ESG remains a strategic priority and a core strength for RS, increasingly influencing customer sourcing decisions and supplier partnerships. Our commitment to ESG is deeply embedded in our company values of 'doing the right thing' and 'making every day better', supporting our long-term success and resilience. We are platinum EcoVadis and CDP A-list rated and our ESG leadership stands out as a differentiator with our customers, suppliers and people.

Our Better World product range continues to grow as a sustainability and commercial differentiator, now spanning over 33,000 products and 140+ suppliers. Backed by our industry-standard claims-based framework, the range helps customers operate more sustainably and strengthens supplier partnerships. We are expanding the framework to recognise more products that combine together to form Better World solutions that will deliver more product choice and sustainability benefits for our customers - such as reduced resource use, CO₂ emissions and waste, and cost savings. We are also developing carbon reporting for our higher-value customers, designed to drive further value and deepen our relationships by supporting their sustainability goals more effectively.

We continue to drive efficiencies across our own operations to reduce cost and carbon and offer our customers a more sustainable distribution service. Our regionalised supply chain and distribution network enables us to shorten delivery distances, resulting in lower transportation costs and reduced emissions. As of H1 2025/26, we have reduced our emissions intensity from product transportation by 35% from our 2019/20 baseline, 95% of our packaging is recyclable, 85% of our waste is recycled and 92% of our electricity is from renewable sources.

We have eight non-financial KPIs to help measure progress against our strategy and the commitments of our 2030 ESG action plan - For a Better World. To provide greater transparency on our performance in the period, a summary of our progress is included below with further details available in the ESG section on our website: www.rsgroup.com/sustainability.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-financial KPIs

	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/25
Carbon intensity1,2 (tonnes of CO2e due to Scope 1 and 2 emissions / £m revenue)	1.6	1.9
Carbon emissions1 (tonnes of CO2e due to Scope 1 and 2 emissions)	2,250	2,650
Packaging intensity2 (tonnes / £m revenue)	1.68	1.55
Waste1 (% of waste recycled)	85%	84%
Group rolling 12-month Net Promoter Score (NPS) 3	46.1	49.9
Employee engagement	73	72
Percentage of management that are women	35%	36%
All accident rate (all accidents per 200,000 hours)	0.31	0.46
1.         H1 2024/25 Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions and waste figures have been updated to reflect improvements to our reporting methodologies, with more detail provided in our basis of reporting. 2.         Intensity metrics are reported on a constant exchange rate basis. 3.         Commentary on NPS scores by region is included in the Regional Performance section.

Full year outlook unchanged

PMIs are higher in nearly all our markets than they were six months ago, although they are generally still in contraction territory and markets remain uncertain. We continue to take market share and are benefiting from active management of the things we can control, remaining agile in our execution, pricing, and cost and cash management to react effectively to prevailing market conditions, while continuing to invest in improving the business to drive sustainable long-term value creation. Our 2025/26 full year outlook remains unchanged since the time of our AGM on 17 July 2025.

We currently expect full year gross margin to be slightly above 43%, compared to 42.8% in 2024/25, as we see some benefit of inflation and pricing optimisation. For operating costs, the guidance we provided at the time of the Preliminary Results in May 2025 remains unchanged, and we will continue to actively manage our cost base in response to the market environment. We expect organic investment at the lower half of the £35-£45 million range (compared to £31 million in 2024/25) and cost inflation of around 3% compared to 2024/25. Restructuring and integration costs are still expected to be in the range of £10-£15 million (compared to £17 million in 2024/25) and depreciation and employee incentives will be second half weighted. Total restructuring and integration savings are expected to be in excess of £15 million.

Capital expenditure is forecast to be around £50 million. We plan to deliver a progressive dividend for the full year, in line with our dividend policy, with improved profit and cash flow over time expected to result in an increase in dividend cover.

Confidence in long-term value creation

Our performance in the first half and the strong underlying progress we are making confirms to us that RS Group is:

·   Uniquely well-positioned in fragmented markets which, while uncertain at the moment, have attractive through-cycle growth characteristics.

·   Driving market share gains through a differentiated technical and digital product and service solutions offer.

·   Investing to improve efficiency and operating leverage of global infrastructure to drive significant margin expansion.

·   Pursuing disciplined acquisition opportunities to accelerate growth, subject to our key criteria of strategic fit, value accretion and successful integration.

·   Targeting the creation of significant and sustainable value for stakeholders.

 

This progress underpins our confidence in delivering on our medium-term financial targets of revenue growth of twice our market, mid-teen adjusted operating margin, cash conversion of over 80% and a sustainable return on capital of more than 20%.

 

REGIONAL PERFORMANCE

EMEA

	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/25	Change	Like-for-like1 change
Revenue	£864m	£879m	(2)%	(2)%
Operating profit2	£86m	£95m	(9)%	(11)%
Operating profit margin2	10.0%	10.8%	(0.8) pts	(0.9) pts
Digital revenue3	£654m	£656m	(0)%	(0)%
Service solutions revenue3	£285m	£267m	6%	7%
RS PRO revenue3	£178m	£172m	3%	4%

1.         Like-for-like adjusted for currency; revenue also adjusted for trading days. See Note 15.

2.         See Note 2 for reconciliation to Group operating profit.

3.         See Note 2 for disaggregation of revenue analysis and reconciliations to regional revenue.

In EMEA, we have a broad product and service solutions proposition and significant opportunity to grow market share, with the focus on larger Corporate and Key customers. We remain focused on driving efficiencies, to benefit from improved operational leverage.

Revenue decreased by 2% and was down by the same on a like-for-like basis, with a slightly stronger euro during the period offset by the impact of fewer trading days. This was partially attributed to some anticipated customer revenue attrition in Distrelec, which crystalised when we closed the distribution centre in the Netherlands, as well as an order backlog when we closed the distribution centre which has now recovered. Overall, the Distrelec integration is proceeding well, and integration benefits are still expected to materially exceed the original business case, more than offsetting the impact of the anticipated customer attrition.

Performance also reflects ongoing economic weakness across the region, with PMIs typically below 50 in all our main EMEA markets, representing a contraction in business activity. However, we saw an increase in like-for-like revenue from the corporate customer segment, in line with our strategy to focus on higher lifetime value customers. In addition, the data we gather from suppliers indicates that we continue to increase market share overall in EMEA, leaving us well placed when markets return to growth.

Across the region, our more resilient product categories of Facilities & Maintenance and Mechanical & Fluid Power delivered like-for-like growth. Demand for Semis & Passives, which makes up around 4% of EMEA revenue, remained weak.

UK and Ireland, which accounts for 38% of the region's revenue, saw a 1% decline in like-for-like revenue. We delivered growth in Ireland however UK PMIs were consistently below 50 over the period as business confidence remained weak.

France, which accounts for 20% of the region's revenue, once again delivered revenue growth, with like-for-like revenue up 7% despite a weak and uncertain economic backdrop. We continue to see the benefit of targeting our product and sales offer to serve more resilient industry verticals, particularly those connected to process manufacturing such as food and beverage, while we also continue to outperform the market in less resilient sectors.

DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), which accounts for 14% of the region's revenue, saw a 9% like-for-like revenue reduction, partially due to the impact of the Distrelec distribution centre closure. Consistent with most of the rest of the region, PMIs in Germany were below 50 over the period, with production volumes remaining weak in the manufacturing sector and the automotive industry.

RS Integrated Supply EMEA like-for-like revenue was up 8%, as we continue to leverage data and technology to optimise customers' MRO processes, driving measurable value and reinforcing our position as a trusted partner.

Digital revenue was flat on a like-for-like basis. Web revenue was down, reflecting reduced activity from more transactional customers. However our focus on deepening our relationship with larger higher value customer segments resulted in increased use of our eProcurement and Purchasing Manager platforms. This was also reflected in like-for-like service solutions revenue growth of 7%. RS PRO like-for-like revenue was up 4% and now makes up 21% of total EMEA revenue.

EMEA's like-for-like gross margin was slightly higher than last year as we began to see some pricing benefit following a period of minimal sales price inflation. Operating costs were up by less than inflation, as restructuring benefits and an ongoing focus on cost management offset ongoing strategic investments. As a result, operating profit was down 9% to £86 million, and the operating profit margin was 10.0%.

EMEA's rolling 12-month NPS was 47.3, down from 49.9 in H1 2024/25. This reflects a decline in monthly net promoter scores over 2024/25 as we implemented our new product tracking system which temporarily impacted order fulfilment scheduling. Monthly NPS scores have been improving in recent months and we expect this to flow through to the rolling 12-month NPS over the second half of the year.

Americas

	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/254	Change	Like-for-like1 change
Revenue	£429m	£452m	(5)%	1%
Operating profit2	£35m	£41m	(15)%	(9)%
Operating profit margin2	8.2%	9.1%	(0.9) pts	(0.8) pts
Digital revenue3	£128m	£154m	(17)%	(13)%
Service solutions revenue3	£65m	£64m	2%	7%
RS PRO revenue3	£3.8m	£3.5m	9%	14%

1.         Like-for-like adjusted for currency; revenue also adjusted for trading days. See Note 15.

2.         See Note 2 for reconciliation to Group operating profit.

3.         See Note 2 for disaggregation of revenue analysis and reconciliations to region's revenue.

4.         H1 2024/25 restated to reflect the correct application of the Group inventory provisioning policy in the US. See Note 16 for further details.

In Americas, we have a strong technical Automation & Control and Electrification focus, with expanding presence and solutions expertise. We see the opportunity to broaden our customer base and offer, through greater digital and
own-brand RS PRO share.

Our business in Americas serves a higher proportion of builders of industrial assets, including discrete manufacturers, than the rest of the Group. This results in greater sensitivity to capital investment expenditure and project-related revenue, and Americas is therefore particularly exposed to manufacturing output.

Americas revenue decreased by 5%, with like-for-like revenue up 1% after excluding the impact of a weaker US dollar and fewer trading days during the period. In Q1, we delivered a significant project to upgrade our digital platform in the US. Excluding a temporary impact on revenue of this operational improvement, we estimate that like-for-like revenue would have been up around 5% in H1 2025/26. Web performance has been improving on the new digital platform, with the focus in H2 on optimising it to accelerate growth. At a product category level, sales of A&C and Electrification products (c. 70% of the region's revenue) were in line with the broader Americas performance.

Like-for-like revenue in the US and Canada (73% of the region's revenue) was up 2%, with growth accelerating in Q2 with improving PMIs and economic conditions. This followed a small decline in Q1, which included the majority of the temporary impact on revenue following the digital platform upgrade. This was partially offset by an increase in offline revenue driven by a focused effort on higher value customers, select vertical markets, strategic suppliers and targeted product expansion.

Economic and political conditions were more uncertain in Mexico, including persisting concerns over tariffs and their impact on the wider Mexican economy. This resulted in several of our larger customers deferring capital expenditure and like-for-like revenue in Latin America (20% of the region's revenue) decreased by 5%. 

RS Integrated Supply Americas delivered 4% like-for-like revenue growth, as we continue to enhance operational efficiency and harness data and technology to deepen customer relationships and expand our client base.

Revenue from digital decreased by 13% on a like-for-like basis. Web revenue was materially down, reflecting the temporary impact of the digital platform upgrade in the US. Service solutions like-for-like revenue grew 7% driven by a significant increase in the use of eProcurement solutions by larger Key customers in line with our strategy. RS PRO like-for-like revenue increased again, by 14%, as we continue to seek to capture more of our customers spend in the US and Canada and continue to introduce RS PRO in a targeted way to our customers in Latin America.

Americas gross margin improved slightly, driven by disciplined price execution and the passing on of supplier and tariff-related cost increases to customers in the US and Canada. This was partially offset by lower gross margin in Mexico due to reduced customer capital spend and volatile US dollar/Peso exchange rates which negatively impacted the result in H1 2025/26, after having had a positive effect in H1 2024/25. Operating costs included the impact of inflation and ongoing strategic investments, with these cost increases offset by the benefits of currency movements in reported operating costs. Americas operating profit of £35 million was 15% lower than last year, and down 9% on a like-for-like basis. Like-for-like profit was up slightly in the US and Canada, but was down in Mexico, reflecting the reduced revenue and gross margin. The resulting Americas operating margin was 8.2%.

Americas rolling twelve-month NPS remained relatively high at 58.5, although lower than the 65.9 from H1 2024/25 reflecting the launch of the digital platform in Q1. The monthly NPS has been recovering over recent months, although the impact of the lower NPS will remain in the reported rolling NPS for the next 12 months.

Asia Pacific

	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/25	Change	Like-for-like1 change
Revenue	£110.1m	£110.2m	0%	4%
Operating profit2	£3.4m	£3.1m	10%	42%
Operating profit margin2	3.1%	2.8%	0.3 pts	0.8 pts
Digital revenue3	£58.9m	£59.5m	(1%)	3%
Service solutions revenue3,4	£26.2m	£24.9m	5%	8%
RS PRO revenue3	£17.4m	£17.1m	2%	6%

1.         Like-for-like adjusted for currency; revenue also adjusted for trading days. See Note 15.

2.         See Note 2 for reconciliation to Group operating profit. Regional operating profit has been restated in the prior period as shown in Note 2.

3.         See Note 2 for disaggregation of revenue analysis and reconciliations to region's revenue.

4.         H1 2024/25 restated following a review of service solutions categorisation, see Note 2.

We offer a unique pan-Asia Pacific proposition for customers and have the opportunity to grow scale through increasing sales of products and services to customers looking to aggregate their maintenance purchasing.

Asia Pacific revenue was flat year-on-year and up 4% on a like-for-like basis after excluding the impact of currency moves and fewer trading days during the period. This reflects broadly stable economic conditions, with PMIs remaining marginally above 50 in most of our markets during the first half of the year.

Australia and New Zealand, which contributed 37% of the region's revenue, delivered 8% like-for-like revenue growth. This reflects improved economic indicators, with PMIs above 50 in Australia for the whole period, and also includes benefits from the acquisition of Trident in April 2024. The acquisition is performing ahead of expectations.

Southeast Asia, which accounts for 32% of the region's revenue, delivered 4% like-for-like revenue growth against a backdrop of improving business confidence across its markets. Encouragingly, in line with our regional strategy we saw strong growth in higher value corporate customers and increased take up of RS PRO products and our eProcurement solutions.

Greater China, representing 21% of the region's revenue, saw a 3% fall in like-for-like revenue. Within this, China and Taiwan delivered growth, but performance in Hong Kong was very weak. This reflects significantly lower spend from a few large state-owned customers linked to government budgetary constraints. Japan and Korea, with 10% of the region's revenue, delivered 2% like-for-like revenue growth, with particularly strong RS PRO growth.

Digital like-for-like revenue was up 3% year-on-year, driven by greater take up of our eProcurement solution by larger corporate customers, with growth in all sub-regions apart from Greater China. RS PRO like-for-like revenue was up 6%, with growth accelerating in Q2 as we continue to enhance our go-to-market strategy, including targeted product marketing campaigns and focused product range catalogues.

Gross margin improved by 1.1 percentage points on a like-for-like basis, benefiting from favourable pricing and lower inventory provisions. Regional operating costs increased by 4% on a like-for-like basis, due to the impacts of inflation and investment in growth initiatives. As a result, operating profit increased by 10%, and 42% on a like-for-like basis, with a resulting operating margin of 3.1%.

Asia Pacific's rolling 12 months NPS score decreased by 7.4 points to 14.7, which reflects the historic impact of the implementation of our new product tracking system which had a temporary impact on order fulfilment. Performance levels are now returning to normal, and we are engaging with our customers to mitigate any outstanding issues.

GROUP FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/253	Change	Like-for-like1 change
Revenue	£1,403m	£1,441m	(3)%	(1)%
Gross profit	£605m	£615m	(2)%	(1)%
Gross margin	43.1%	42.7%	0.4 pts	0.3 pts
Operating costs	(£483)m	£(496)m	3%
Operating profit	£122m	£119m	3%
Operating profit margin	8.7%	8.3%	0.4 pts
Profit before tax	£112m	£105m	7%
Basic earnings per share	17.7p	16.4p	8%
Adjusted operating costs1	£(483)m	£(483)m	0%
Adjusted operating profit1	£122m	£133m	(8)%	(7)%
Adjusted operating profit margin1	8.7%	9.2%	(0.5) pts	(0.5) pts
Adjusted operating profit conversion1	20.1%	21.5%	(1.4) pts
Adjusted profit before tax1	£112m	£118m	(6)%	(4)%
Adjusted basic earnings per share1	17.6p	18.5p	(5)%	(3)%
Digital revenue2	£841m	£869m	(3)%	(2)%
Service solutions revenue2	£376m	£356m	6%	7%
RS PRO revenue2	£200m	£193m	3%	4%

1.         See Note 15 for definitions and reconciliations of all alternative performance measures, including like-for-like change and adjusted measures.

2.         See Note 2 for disaggregation of revenue analysis and reconciliations.

3.         H1 2024/25 restated to reflect the correct application of the Group inventory provisioning policy in the US. See Note 16 for further details.

 

Revenue

Group revenue of £1,403 million was down 3% compared to H1 2024/25. After adjusting for adverse exchange rate movements, largely related to a weakening of the US dollar compared to last year, and fewer trading days in H1 2025/26, like-for-like revenue was down 1%. Growth of 1% in Q2 followed a 2% decline in Q1, which included the majority of a reduction in revenue associated with the implementation of two significant projects, namely upgrading our digital platform in Americas and consolidating a Distrelec distribution centre in EMEA.

Detail on regional revenue, gross margin and operating profit is provided in the Regional Performance section above.

Digital revenue, accounting for 60% of Group revenue, reduced 2% on a like-for-like basis. Within this, digital solutions such as eProcurement, which are predominantly used by our larger customers, grew by 9% like-for-like. Web revenue, which tends to reflect smaller, more transactional purchases, decreased by 7% like-for-like, although the underlying reduction was smaller when taking into account the impact on web revenue of Americas digital platform upgrade. This decline reflects a continuation of the trend we have seen over the past 18 months, as we look to move larger customers onto our eProcurement platform to deepen the relationship, while also observing a market-wide reduction in web search activity and remaining mindful of the cost to acquire lower order value web customers.

Service solutions revenue, accounting for 27% of Group revenue, increased by 7% like-for-like, reflecting the increased use of eProcurement solutions and a continuation of strong performance in inventory solutions and design, technical and custom order services. RS Integrated Supply delivered 6% like-for-like revenue growth reflecting a strategic positioning to focus on higher value customers, new contract wins and higher customer retention rates in both EMEA and Americas.

RS PRO, which is our main own-brand product range and accounts for 14% of Group revenue, grew by 4%
like-for-like, as we saw the benefit of extending our product breadth and an end-to-end sales and marketing focus in all our regions. Our competitively priced offer continues to gain traction as a quality but non-competing value alternative to third-party branded ranges as we demonstrate our quality assurance qualifications and design and test facilities.

Consistent with trends seen over the past couple of years, revenue performance by product category demonstrates the difference between categories that are more industrial and tend to be less volatile (Facilities & Maintenance, Mechanical & Fluid Power, PPE & Site Safety, Other) and those correlated to the electronics market (such as Automation & Control and Electrification) and the more electronics-specific categories, Semi & Passives and Cables & Connectors.

	Share of Group revenue	Like-for-like revenue growth
A&C and Electrification, Test & Measurement	47%	(2)%
Facilities & Maintenance, Mechanical & Fluid Power, PPE & Site Safety, Other	36%	3%
Semis & Passives (inc. Single Board Computing), Cables & Connectors	17%	(5)%
Total	100%	(1)%

 

Gross margin

Group gross margin increased 0.4 percentage points to 43.1%, or 0.3 percentage points on a like-for-like basis. This is a continuation of the positive trend we saw in the second half of 2024/25, as we actively managed and optimised our pricing. We continue to focus on gross margin optimisation through direct procurement initiatives, commercial discipline and expanding our own-brand ranges.

Operating costs

Operating costs were down 3% to £483 million and as a percentage of revenue was flat at 34.4%. This includes certain items that we exclude from adjusted operating cost and adjusted profit measures, to improve the comparability of information between reporting periods and between businesses with similar assets that were internally generated. These items relate to acquisition-related costs (a one-off gain of £10.5 million in the current period relating to an acquisition-related legal settlement compared to £nil in the prior period) and the amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles (£9.9 million in the current period compared to £13.5 million in the prior period).

See Note 15 for more detail on definitions and reconciliations of adjusted measures.

Adjusted operating costs (which excludes the amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles and
acquisition-related items detailed above) were flat at £483 million and as a percentage of revenue increased by 1.0 percentage points to 34.5%. Restructuring and integration benefits of £9 million, ongoing strong cost management, foreign currency exchange movements and a £3 million profit on disposal related to the disposal of our sales activities in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia offset the impacts of inflation and £5 million additional spend on our ongoing programme of organic investment.

Operating profit and margin

Operating profit of £122 million was up 3% compared to the prior period. Adjusted operating profit (which excludes acquisition-related costs and amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles) was also £122 million, 8% lower than last year, and down 7% on a like-for-like-basis (which excludes the impact of currency movements). This reflects the regional movements described in the Regional Performance section, partially offset by the £3 million reduction in central costs due to the profit on disposal. Operating profit conversion (operating profit as a percentage of gross profit) was 0.9 percentage points higher at 20.2% and adjusted operating profit conversion was 1.4 percentage points lower at 20.1%. Operating profit margin of 8.7% was 0.4 percentage points higher than last year and adjusted operating profit margin of 8.7% was 0.5 percentage points lower, largely reflecting the additional organic investment we are making to improve the business.

Net finance costs

Net finance costs fell to £10 million (H1 2024/25: £15 million), reflecting a lower average level of net debt over the period and lower market interest rates. At 30 September 2025, 30% of the Group's gross borrowings excluding lease liabilities (H1 2024/25: 23%; 2024/25: 34%) was at fixed rates, with surplus cash deposited at variable rates.

Profit before tax

Reflecting all the above, profit before tax increased 7% to £112 million. Adjusted profit before tax reduced 6% to £112 million, or 4% lower on a like-for-like basis.

Taxation

The Group's income tax expense was £29 million (H1 2024/25: £27 million). The adjusted income tax charge, which excludes the impact of tax on items excluded from adjusted profit before tax, was also £29 million (H1 2024/25: £31 million). This resulted in an effective tax rate of 26.0% on adjusted profit before tax (H1 2024/25: 26.0%) which reflects the current mix of profits in different tax jurisdictions.  

Earnings and earnings per share

Profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company was £83 million (H1 2024/25: £77 million). The weighted average number of shares over the period was 468.6 million (H1 2024/25: 471.6 million) resulting in basic earnings per share of 17.7p (H1 2024/25: 16.4p). Adjusting for items excluded from adjusted profit and associated income tax effects, adjusted basic earnings per share was 5% lower at 17.6p, or 3% lower on a like-for-like basis.

Cash flow

£m	H1 2025/26	H1 2024/252
Operating profit	122	119
Add back depreciation and amortisation	40	42
EBITDA1	162	161
Add back impairments and profit/loss on disposal of non-current assets/business	(3)	1
Movement in working capital	11	5
Defined benefit retirement contributions in excess of charge	(6)	(6)
Movement in provisions	(3)	(2)
Equity-settled share-based payments and cash from joint venture	5	4
Cash generated from operations	166	163
Net capital expenditure	(25)	(25)
Operating cash flow	141	138
Cash effect of adjusting items1	(11)	-
Adjusted operating cash flow1	130	138
Net interest paid	(11)	(15)
Income tax paid	(33)	(34)
Adjusted free cash flow1	86	89

1.         See Note 15 for definitions and reconciliations of all alternative performance measures.

2.         H1 2024/25 restated to reflect the correct application of the Group inventory provisioning policy in the US. See Note 16 for further details.

 

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of £162 million was broadly stable, reflecting the movements in operating profit as described above and a similar depreciation and amortisation charge.

Actively managing our working capital position and optimising cash conversion remains a key area of focus. Working capital reduced in line with revenue and total working capital as a percentage of revenue was broadly stable at 24%.

Within this, trade and other receivables decreased by £11 million over the first half to £678 million. The collection of receivables has the greatest impact on our short-term liquidity, and we continue to limit our exposure through tight credit policies and proactive monitoring of collections.

Inventories of £600 million were £18 million lower when compared with our 31 March 2025 position. Within this asset value, inventory provisions were up slightly, reflecting an increase in non-moving stock, with an overall provision rate of 13.4% (2024/25: 12.6%). With the reduction in inventories broadly in line with the reduction in our cost of sales, inventory turn remained stable at 2.7 times. We will continue to seek to manage our inventory levels to take account of changing demand dynamics and supply chain behaviour, while anticipating our customers' expectations. We will continue to invest in the right inventory to ensure that we remain well-positioned to maintain service levels and deliver strong growth as the markets recover.

Trade and other payables decreased by £20 million over the first half to £591 million. The overall reduction reflects the reduced cost of sales. We aim to pay our suppliers to terms and continue to work with some of our larger suppliers to get more favourable terms where possible.

Reflecting these movements, cash generated from operations was £166 million (H1 2024/25: £163 million). This resulted in adjusted operating cash flow conversion of 107% (H1 2024/25: 104%), compared to our target of over 80%.

Net capital expenditure remained steady at £25 million as we continued to invest in additional distribution capabilities in Italy, our product management solutions, warehouse management systems, our digital commerce capabilities and our technology platforms. This equated to an unchanged capital expenditure to depreciation ratio of 1.1 times, consistent with our typical maintenance capital expenditure levels of 1.0 - 1.5 times depreciation. In line with guidance provided in the 2024/25 full year results, we expect 2025/26 capital expenditure of around £50 million.

After accounting for the cash effect of adjusting items (the net gain related to the acquisition-related legal settlement) and with lower interest payments and lower tax charges broadly mirroring the moves in the Group Income Statement, adjusted free cash flow was £86 million (H1 2024/25: £89 million).

Net debt

Net debt decreased by £31 million over the first half to £333 million, with the free cash flow generated more than adequate to cover payment of the 2024/25 final dividend.

Committed debt facilities were £681 million, consisting of a multi-currency revolving credit facility, term loan and private placement loan. £335 million was undrawn at 30 September 2025.

The Group's financial metrics, as set out in the Alternative Performance Measures in Note 15, remain strong, with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 1.0x and EBITA to interest of 12.6x, leaving significant headroom for the Group's banking covenants of net debt to adjusted EBITDA less than 3.25x and EBITA to interest greater than 3x.

Retirement benefit obligations

Overall, the retirement benefit net obligations of the Group's defined benefit schemes at 30 September 2025 were £9 million compared to £14 million at 31 March 2025 and £20 million at 30 September 2024. The UK defined benefit scheme (our largest scheme) had a net £nil obligation (H1 2024/25: £11 million, 2024/25: £5 million) following the completion of the deficit recovery plan. There are no further committed future deficit contributions as at 30 September 2025.

Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)

ROCE is the adjusted operating profit for the 12 months ended 30 September 2025 expressed as a percentage of the monthly average capital employed (net assets excluding net debt and retirement benefit obligations). ROCE was 15.0% compared to 15.5% for the 12 months ended 30 September 2024. The reduction reflects the lower adjusted operating profit, partially offset by lower capital employed due to reduced inventory and the impact of ongoing amortisation of intangible assets.

Dividend

The Board intends to continue to pursue a progressive dividend policy while remaining committed to a healthy dividend cover over time by driving improved results and stronger cash flow.

For the six months ended 30 September 2025 the Board proposes an interim dividend of 8.7p per share, 2% higher than for the six months ended 30 September 2024, in line with our progressive policy. The interim dividend is equivalent to approximately 39% of 2024/25 full-year dividend, in line with our normal practice of paying an interim dividend equivalent to around 40% of the prior full year dividend. This will be paid on 2 January 2026 to shareholders on the register on 21 November 2025.

Foreign exchange risk

The Group does not hedge translation exposure on the income statements of overseas subsidiaries. Based on the mix of non-sterling denominated revenue and adjusted operating profit, a one cent movement in the euro would impact annual adjusted profit before tax by £1.7 million and a one cent movement in the US dollar would impact annual adjusted profit before tax by £0.5 million.

During the six months ended 30 September 2025, there were foreign exchange differences arising on translation of £19 million, recognised within Other Comprehensive Income, of which £12 million related to the translation of intangible assets as set out in Note 6.  These were partially offset by the losses on net investment hedges of
£5 million.

The Group is also exposed to foreign currency transactional risk because most operating companies have some level of payables or receivables in currencies other than their functional currency. Some operating companies also have receivables in currencies other than their functional currency. Group Treasury maintains three to seven months hedging against freely tradable currencies to smooth the impact of fluctuations in currency. The Group's largest exposures relate to euros and US dollars.

RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Board has overall accountability for the Group's risk management, which is delegated to the Executive Committee and supported by the Group's risk team. The Board is fully committed to setting and embedding a sound risk culture which is aligned with the principles and ethics of the Group.

The Group has a defined risk appetite, approved by the Board, which reflects the Group's willingness and ability to absorb the impact of risk and the Board's appetite for such risks in six risk categories: strategy and change, operational, regulatory compliance, financial resilience, customer experience, and product risks. The business uses consistent impact and likelihood assessment criteria with behaviours that are mapped across the six categories of risk and are aligned to the strategy of the business and the products and services that RS Group provides.

For further information on the Group's approach to risk management see pages 36 to 42 of the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The principal risks disclosed in the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts were:

1.     Cyber security

2.     Geopolitical and macroeconomic environment

3.     Legal and regulatory compliance

4.     Business resilience

5.     Change initiatives

6.     Talent and capability

7.     Market disruption

8.     Climate change

9.     M&A activity

These risks have not changed since they were reported in the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts.

GOING CONCERN

Overview

In adopting the going concern basis for preparing these condensed Group accounts, the Board has considered the Group's future trading prospects; the Group's available liquidity, the maturity of its debt facilities and obligations under its debt covenants; and the Group's principal risks as summarised above. As described in more detail in the Viability Statement in the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, our business model is structured so that the Group is a digitally-enabled global distributor of product and service solutions, providing small volumes of our suppliers' products to satisfy our industrial customers' MRO demands. We supply a very broad spread of customers both in terms of industry sector and geography. The Group is not reliant on one particular group of customers or suppliers, with its largest customer accounting for under one percent of revenue and its largest supplier less than five percent of revenue.

Financial position, liquidity and debt covenants

Our capital position is supported by regular reviews of the Group's funding facilities and debt covenants' headroom, through the Board's Treasury Committee.

The Group's net debt at 30 September 2025 was £333 million (2024/25: £364 million). Our committed debt facilities were £681 million, of which £335 million was undrawn (see the net debt section in the Financial Review for more details of our committed facilities). The earliest facilities maturing are two tranches of the private placement loan notes totalling £75 million, which come to term in the last three months of 2026.

The Group's debt covenants are EBITA to interest to be greater than 3 times and net debt to adjusted EBITDA to be less than 3.25 times, which are measured on a rolling 12-month basis at half year and year end. At 30 September 2025 EBITA to interest was 12.6x (2024/25: 10.9x) and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.0x (2024/25: 1.1x) (see Note 15 for reconciliations).

Financial modelling

We frequently update our forecast and this is regularly reviewed, and the assumptions approved, by the Board.

We have undertaken reverse stress tests on the latest forecast to assess the circumstances that would threaten the Group's current financing arrangements. These included significant declines in like-for-like revenue, significant declines in revenue and gross margin and a major deterioration in cash collection, in each case resulting in adjusted operating profit margin falling to under 1% in at least one of the following five quarters. All these reverse stress tests assumed no mitigations, capital expenditure and dividends are unchanged from those forecast and no changes in debt financing. The Board considers the risk of these circumstances occurring to be remote.

Going concern basis

Based on the assessment outlined above, the Board has a reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the going concern period of at least 12 months from 5 November 2025. Therefore, the Board believes that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these condensed Group accounts.

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTORS IN RESPECT OF THE HALF YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT

The Directors confirm that these condensed Group accounts have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' as contained in UK-adopted International Financial Reporting Standards and that the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) 4.2.7 and DTR 4.2.8, namely:

·       An indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months and their impact on the condensed set of accounts, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the financial year; and

·       Material related party transactions in the first six months and any material changes in the related party transactions described in the last annual report.

A list of current Directors of RS Group plc is maintained on the RS Group plc website: www.rsgroup.com.

Kate Ringrose, Chief Financial Officer
5 November 2025

 

Forward-looking statements

This financial report contains certain statements, statistics and projections that are or may be forward-looking. The accuracy and completeness of all such statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial position, strategy, projected costs, plans and objectives for the management of future operations of RS Group plc and its subsidiaries is not warranted or guaranteed. These statements typically contain words such as "may", "will", "should" "project", "intends", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates" and words of similar import are forward looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Although RS Group plc believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a number of factors, which may be beyond the control of RS Group plc, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Other than as required by applicable law or the applicable rules of any exchange on which our securities may be listed, RS Group plc has no intention or obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein.

GROUP INCOME STATEMENT

For the six months ended 30 September 2025

 

		Six months ended		Year ended
		30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	Notes	£m	£m	£m
Revenue	2	1,402.8	1,441.2	2,903.5
Cost of sales		(798.0)	(826.2)	(1,660.3)
Gross profit		604.8	615.0	1,243.2
Operating costs		(482.7)	(496.0)	(1,010.4)
Operating profit	2	122.1	119.0	232.8
Finance income		0.7	3.1	4.7
Finance costs		(10.9)	(17.6)	(32.0)
Share of profit of joint venture		0.3	0.2	0.6
Profit before tax	2	112.2	104.7	206.1
Income tax expense		(29.2)	(27.3)	(53.5)
Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company		83.0	77.4	152.6
Earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company
Basic	3	17.7p	16.4p	32.5p
Diluted	3	17.7p	16.4p	32.5p

 

 

GROUP STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the six months ended 30 September 2025

 

		Six months ended		Year ended
		30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
		£m	£m	£m
Profit for the period		83.0	77.4	152.6
Other comprehensive income/(expense)
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Remeasurement of retirement benefit obligations		(0.4)	(0.6)	1.5
Related income tax		0.1	0.1	(0.3)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Foreign exchange translation differences of joint venture		(0.3)	(0.2)	(0.1)
Foreign exchange translation differences		19.2	(102.1)	(84.1)
Fair value (loss)/gain on net investment hedges		(5.4)	10.9	6.6
Movement in cash flow hedges		1.8	3.0	1.4
Related income tax		(0.4)	(0.8)	(0.2)
Other comprehensive income/(expense) for the period		14.6	(89.7)	(75.2)
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the period		97.6	(12.3)	77.4

 

Total comprehensive income/(expense) is attributable to:
Owners of the Company		97.6	(12.3)	77.5
Non-controlling interests		-	-	(0.1)
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the period		97.6	(12.3)	77.4

 

⁽¹⁾  Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

GROUP BALANCE SHEET

As at 30 September 2025

 

		30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	Notes	£m	£m	£m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	6	900.4	911.3	898.9
Property, plant and equipment		177.6	172.6	176.7
Right-of-use assets		51.7	54.3	54.3
Investment in joint venture		1.2	0.8	1.2
Other receivables		5.6	5.8	4.6
Retirement benefit net assets	5	2.7	1.6	2.5
Deferred tax assets		8.9	7.1	11.1
Total non-current assets		1,148.1	1,153.5	1,149.3
Current assets
Inventories	7	599.5	625.6	617.3
Trade and other receivables	8	677.5	628.2	688.5
Cash and cash equivalents - cash and short-term deposits	9	219.2	274.2	147.7
Derivative assets		3.5	4.0	1.9
Current income tax receivables		16.1	25.2	15.9
Total current assets		1,515.8	1,557.2	1,471.3
Total assets		2,663.9	2,710.7	2,620.6
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		(591.1)	(547.4)	(611.0)
Cash and cash equivalents - bank overdrafts	9	(132.1)	(160.1)	(41.7)
Borrowings	9	(21.9)	(20.0)	(23.5)
Lease liabilities	9	(15.9)	(14.8)	(15.5)
Derivative liabilities		(1.6)	(2.3)	(1.8)
Provisions		(1.7)	(2.0)	(5.0)
Current income tax liabilities		(15.1)	(24.6)	(17.9)
Total current liabilities		(779.4)	(771.2)	(716.4)
Non-current liabilities
Other payables		(6.9)	(11.3)	(7.4)
Retirement benefit obligations	5	(11.3)	(21.8)	(16.4)
Borrowings	9	(344.6)	(474.4)	(390.0)
Lease liabilities	9	(38.1)	(41.8)	(41.2)
Provisions		(4.2)	(5.9)	(3.1)
Deferred tax liabilities		(88.4)	(86.5)	(91.6)
Total non-current liabilities		(493.5)	(641.7)	(549.7)
Total liabilities		(1,272.9)	(1,412.9)	(1,266.1)
Net assets		1,391.0	1,297.8	1,354.5
Equity
Share capital and share premium		287.1	287.1	287.1
Own shares held by Employee Benefit Trust (EBT)		(40.5)	(43.9)	(42.3)
Other reserves		45.9	18.4	32.0
Retained earnings		1,098.0	1,035.6	1,077.2
Equity attributable to owners of the Company		1,390.5	1,297.2	1,354.0
Non-controlling interests		0.5	0.6	0.5
Total equity		1,391.0	1,297.8	1,354.5

 

⁽¹⁾  Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT

For the six months ended 30 September 2025

 

		Six months ended		Year ended
		30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	Notes	£m	£m	£m
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before tax		112.2	104.7	206.1
Depreciation and amortisation		40.1	42.3	85.4
Impairment of intangible assets		-	0.5	12.8
Impairment of property, plant and equipment		-	-	0.4
Profit on business disposal	11	(3.4)	-	-
Loss on disposal of non-current assets		-	0.1	0.1
Equity-settled share-based payments		4.9	3.8	9.9
Net finance costs		10.2	14.5	27.3
Share of profit and dividends received from joint venture		(0.3)	0.3	-
Decrease/(increase) in inventories		20.5	(3.8)	7.6
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables		18.0	52.6	(2.0)
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables		(27.6)	(45.0)	12.3
Decrease in provisions		(2.6)	(1.5)	(0.4)
Defined benefit retirement contributions in excess of charge		(6.1)	(5.8)	(10.7)
Cash generated from operations		165.9	162.7	348.8
Interest received		0.8	3.1	4.7
Interest paid		(11.8)	(18.0)	(34.0)
Income tax paid		(33.3)	(33.8)	(60.4)
Net cash from operating activities		121.6	114.0	259.1
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisition of businesses		-	(8.2)	(8.4)
Purchase of intangible assets		(16.2)	(20.5)	(33.1)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(8.9)	(4.4)	(16.2)
Proceeds from sale of business	11	3.4	-	-
Net cash used in investing activities		(21.7)	(33.1)	(57.7)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from the issue of share capital		0.1	0.2	0.2
Purchase of own shares by EBT		-	(46.5)	(46.5)
Net (decrease)/increase in revolving facility and short-term loans2	9	(47.1)	64.9	(42.3)
Other loans drawn down2	9	-	0.1	24.0
Other loans repaid2	9	(1.6)	-	(0.4)
Principal elements of lease payments	9	(8.3)	(7.2)	(15.7)
Dividends paid	4	(65.1)	(64.9)	(104.7)
Net cash used in financing activities		(122.0)	(53.4)	(185.4)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(22.1)	27.5	16.0
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period		106.0	96.0	96.0
Effect of exchange rate changes		3.2	(9.4)	(6.0)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	9	87.1	114.1	106.0

 

⁽¹⁾  Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

⁽²⁾ Cash flows relating to borrowings eligible for net presentation are now presented within the line "net (decrease)/increase in revolving facility and short-term loans". The 2024/25 half year comparative of £64.9 million consists of inflow of £119.9 million re-presented from "other loans drawn down" and outflow of £55.0 million re-presented from "other loans repaid".

 

 

GROUP STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the six months ended 30 September 2025

 

	Attributable to owners of the Company
	Share capital and share premium	Own shares held by EBT	Other reserves1	Retained earnings	Total		Non-controlling interests		Total equity
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m		£m		£m
At 1 April 2024 (as reported)	286.9	(1.8)	108.3	1,038.9	1,432.3		0.6		1,432.9
Effect of prior period restatement2	-	-	0.6	(14.6)	(14.0)		-		(14.0)
At 1 April 2024 (restated2)	286.9	(1.8)	108.9	1,024.3	1,418.3		0.6		1,418.9
Profit for the period (as reported)	-	-	-	78.2	78.2		-		78.2
Prior period restatement2	-	-	-	(0.8)	(0.8)		-		(0.8)
Profit for the period (restated2)	-	-	-	77.4	77.4		-		77.4
Other comprehensive expense (as reported)	-	-	(90.0)	(0.5)	(90.5)		-		(90.5)
Prior period restatement2	-	-	0.8	-	0.8		-		0.8
Other comprehensive expense (restated2)	-	-	(89.2)	(0.5)	(89.7)		-		(89.7)
Total comprehensive (expense)/income	-	-	(89.2)	76.9	(12.3)		-		(12.3)
Cash flow hedging gains transferred to inventories	-	-	(1.8)	-	(1.8)		-		(1.8)
Tax on cash flow hedging transfers	-	-	0.5	-	0.5		-		0.5
Dividends (Note 4)	-	-	-	(64.9)	(64.9)		-		(64.9)
Equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	-	4.0	4.0		-		4.0
Settlement of share awards	0.2	4.4	-	(4.7)	(0.1)		-		(0.1)
Purchase of own shares by EBT	-	(46.5)	-	-	(46.5)		-		(46.5)
At 30 September 2024 (restated2)	287.1	(43.9)	18.4	1,035.6	1,297.2		0.6		1,297.8
Profit for the period	-	-	-	75.3	75.3		-		75.3
Other comprehensive income/(expense)	-	-	12.8	1.7	14.5		(0.1)		14.4
Total comprehensive income/(expense)	-	-	12.8	77.0	89.8		(0.1)		89.7
Cash flow hedging losses transferred to inventories	-	-	1.2	-	1.2		-		1.2
Tax on cash flow hedging transfers	-	-	(0.4)	-	(0.4)		-		(0.4)
Dividends (Note 4)	-	-	-	(39.8)	(39.8)		-		(39.8)
Equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	-	5.4	5.4		-		5.4
Settlement of share awards	-	1.6	-	(0.8)	0.8		-		0.8
Tax on equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	-	(0.2)	(0.2)		-		(0.2)
At 31 March 2025	287.1	(42.3)	32.0	1,077.2	1,354.0		0.5		1,354.5
Profit for the period	-	-	-	83.0	83.0		-		83.0
Other comprehensive income/(expense)	-	-	14.9	(0.3)	14.6		-		14.6
Total comprehensive income	-	-	14.9	82.7	97.6		-		97.6
Cash flow hedging gains transferred to inventories	-	-	(1.4)	-	(1.4)		-		(1.4)
Tax on cash flow hedging transfers	-	-	0.4	-	0.4		-		0.4
Dividends (Note 4)	-	-	-	(65.1)	(65.1)		-		(65.1)
Equity-settled share-based payments	-	-	-	4.9	4.9		-		4.9
Settlement of share awards	-	1.8	-	(1.7)	0.1		-		0.1
At 30 September 2025	287.1	(40.5)	45.9	1,098.0	1,390.5		0.5		1,391.0

 

⁽¹⁾ Other reserves comprises the Hedging reserve of £0.7 million (30 September 2024: £0.5 million; 31 March 2025: £0.3 million) and the Cumulative translation reserve of £45.2 million (30 September 2024: £17.9 million; 31 March 2025: £31.7 million).

⁽²⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

NOTES TO THE CONDENSED GROUP ACCOUNTS

1.    Basis of preparation

These condensed Group accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 5 November 2025 and are unaudited but have been reviewed by the auditor. They do not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006, but have been prepared in accordance with the UK-adopted International Accounting Standard (IAS) 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 was prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards (UK IAS) and has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The previous auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include a reference to any matters to which the previous auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain any statement under section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

These condensed Group accounts have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 except for the estimation of income tax. Under IAS 34, the tax charge for the period is calculated using the estimated weighted average effective tax rate for the year ending 31 March 2026. Where tax balances are revised due to changes in tax rates or estimates of tax liabilities for prior periods, the full effect is included in the tax charge for the first half of the year.

No accounting standards, amendments to existing standards or interpretations, either adopted in the period or issued but not yet applicable, have or are expected to have a material impact on the reported results or financial position of the Group except for IFRS 18 'Presentation and Disclosures in Financial Statements', as set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025. The Group is within the scope of the OECD Pillar Two model rules, which the UK government substantively enacted in its Finance (No.2) Act 2023 on 20 June 2023, introducing an income inclusion rule and domestic minimum top-up tax applied to the Group for the first accounting period commencing after 1 January 2024. The Group has done a review of the impacts of these rules and they do not have any material impact on the reported results or financial position of the Group.

Except for judgements involved in estimations, no judgements have been made in the process of applying the Group's accounting policies that have had a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the accounts. The judgements involved in estimations take account of the Group's latest expectations of the longer-term impacts of climate change and environmental regulations and the current global economic and geopolitical uncertainties, and the impact was not material.

Significant estimates are those that have a significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of the Group's assets and liabilities within the next year. The significant estimates made in preparing the accounts were in relation to retirement benefit obligations and inventory provisioning, the same as those applied to the Group accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The Group have adopted various alternative performance measures (APMs) to provide additional useful information on underlying trends and its performance and position. The APMs are not defined by IFRS and therefore may not be directly comparable with other companies' APMs and are defined in Note 15.

Going concern basis

In adopting the going concern basis for preparing these condensed Group accounts, the Board has considered the Group's future trading prospects; the Group's available liquidity, the maturity of its debt facilities and obligations under its debt covenants; and the Group's principal risks.

The Group's net debt at 30 September 2025 was £333 million (31 March 2025: £364 million). Our committed debt facilities were £681 million, of which £335 million (31 March 2025: £287 million) was undrawn.  The earliest facilities maturing are two tranches of the private placement loan notes totalling £75 million, which come to term in the last three months of 2026.

The Group's debt covenants are EBITA to interest to be greater than 3 times and net debt to adjusted EBITDA to be less than 3.25 times, which are measured on a rolling 12-month basis at half year and year end. At 30 September 2025 EBITA to interest was 12.6x (31 March 2025: 10.9x) and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.0x (31 March 2025: 1.1x) (see Note 15 for reconciliations).

 

1.    Basis of preparation (continued)

We have undertaken reverse stress tests on the latest forecast to assess the circumstances that would threaten the Group's current financing arrangements. These included significant declines in like-for-like revenue, significant declines in revenue and gross margin and a major deterioration in cash collection, in each case resulting in adjusted operating profit margin falling to under 1% in at least one of the following five quarters. All these reverse stress tests assumed no mitigations, capital expenditure and dividends are unchanged from those forecast and no changes in debt financing. The Board considers the risk of these circumstances occurring to be remote.

Based on the assessment outlined above, the Board has a reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the going concern period of at least 12 months from 5 November 2025. Therefore, the Board believes that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these condensed Group accounts.

 

2.    Segmental reporting

The Group's operating segments comprise three regions: EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific.

	EMEA	Americas	Asia Pacific	Group
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Revenue from external customers	863.9	428.8	110.1	1,402.8
Segmental operating profit	86.0	35.1	3.4	124.5
Central costs				(3.0)
Adjusted operating profit1				121.5
Amortisation of acquired intangibles				(9.9)
Acquisition-related legal settlement income (Note 15)				10.5
Operating profit				122.1
Net finance costs				(10.2)
Share of profit of joint venture				0.3
Profit before tax				112.2

 

Six months ended 30 September 2024 (restated2)
Revenue from external customers	878.8	452.2	110.2	1,441.2
Segmental operating profit	95.0	41.1	3.1	139.2
Central costs				(6.7)
Adjusted operating profit1				132.5
Amortisation of acquired intangibles				(13.5)
Acquisition-related items				-
Operating profit				119.0
Net finance costs				(14.5)
Share of profit of joint venture				0.2
Profit before tax				104.7

 

⁽¹⁾ See Note 15 for definition and reconciliation of this APM.

⁽²⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

2.    Segmental reporting (continued)

	EMEA	Americas	Asia Pacific	Group
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Year ended 31 March 2025
Revenue from external customers	1,777.3	907.4	218.8	2,903.5
Segmental operating profit	200.5	81.6	6.1	288.2
Central costs				(14.0)
Adjusted operating profit1				274.2
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles				(37.3)
Acquisition-related items				(4.1)
Operating profit				232.8
Net finance costs				(27.3)
Share of profit of joint venture				0.6
Profit before tax				206.1

⁽¹⁾ See Note 15 for definition of this APM.

In the tables below, revenue is disaggregated by sales channels, by own-brand products or other product and service solutions, and also by service solutions and other. The Group's largest own-brand is RS PRO. £1,356.7 million of revenue is recognised at a point in time (six months ended 30 September 2024: £1,394.8 million; year ended 31 March 2025: £2,850.2 million) and £46.1 million over time (six months ended 30 September 2024: £46.4 million; year ended 31 March 2025: £98.3 million).

 

Sales channels, brands and service solutions
During the year ended 31 March 2025, the Group reviewed what it classes as digital revenue and identified that certain revenue should have been categorised differently, which resulted in an overall increase to digital revenue and corresponding decrease to offline revenue in Americas of £4.4 million for the six months ended 30 September 2024. The Group also reviewed its categorisation of service solutions revenue, which has resulted in a decrease in service solutions revenue in Americas of £4.4 million for the six months ended 30 September 2024.   During the period ended 30 September 2025, the Group reviewed its categorisation of service solutions revenue in Asia Pacific and identified that certain revenue should have been categorised differently, resulting in a regional increase in service solutions revenue of £2.3 million for the six months ended 30 September 2024 and an increase of £4.9 million for the year ended 31 March 2025.
	EMEA	Americas	Asia Pacific	Group
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Web	407.7	108.1	40.9	556.7
eProcurement and other digital	245.9	20.0	18.0	283.9
Digital	653.6	128.1	58.9	840.6
Offline	210.3	300.7	51.2	562.2
Revenue	863.9	428.8	110.1	1,402.8
Six months ended 30 September 2024 (restated)
Web	426.2	136.9	41.6	604.7
eProcurement and other digital	229.5	17.2	17.9	264.6
Digital	655.7	154.1	59.5	869.3
Offline	223.1	298.1	50.7	571.9
Revenue	878.8	452.2	110.2	1,441.2
Year ended 31 March 2025
Web	851.2	269.5	81.9	1,202.6
eProcurement and other digital	479.1	35.7	36.5	551.3
Digital	1,330.3	305.2	118.4	1,753.9
Offline	447.0	602.2	100.4	1,149.6
Revenue	1,777.3	907.4	218.8	2,903.5

 

 

2.    Segmental reporting (continued)

Own-brand / other product and service solutions
	EMEA	Americas	Asia Pacific	Group
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Own-brand product and service solutions	179.6	3.8	17.4	200.8
Other product and service solutions	684.3	425.0	92.7	1,202.0
Revenue	863.9	428.8	110.1	1,402.8
Six months ended 30 September 2024
Own-brand product and service solutions	177.1	3.5	17.1	197.7
Other product and service solutions	701.7	448.7	93.1	1,243.5
Revenue	878.8	452.2	110.2	1,441.2
Year ended 31 March 2025
Own-brand product and service solutions	359.6	7.1	33.7	400.4
Other product and service solutions	1,417.7	900.3	185.1	2,503.1
Revenue	1,777.3	907.4	218.8	2,903.5
Service solutions / other
	EMEA £m	Americas £m	Asia Pacific £m	Group £m
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Service solutions	284.6	64.8	26.2	375.6
Other	579.3	364.0	83.9	1,027.2
Revenue	863.9	428.8	110.1	1,402.8
Six months ended 30 September 2024 (restated)
Service solutions	267.4	63.5	24.9	355.8
Other	611.4	388.7	85.3	1,085.4
Revenue	878.8	452.2	110.2	1,441.2
Year ended 31 March 2025 (restated)
Service solutions	557.1	133.7	51.6	742.4
Other	1,220.2	773.7	167.2	2,161.1
Revenue	1,777.3	907.4	218.8	2,903.5

 

3.    Earnings per share

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	Number	Number	Number
Weighted average number of shares	468,632,666	471,596,673	470,022,152
Dilutive effect of share-based payments	193,085	360,171	214,829
Diluted weighted average number of shares	468,825,751	471,956,844	470,236,981
Basic earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company	17.7p	16.4p	32.5p
Diluted earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company	17.7p	16.4p	32.5p

 

⁽¹⁾  Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

 

 

4.    Dividends

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2025 - 13.9p (2024: 13.7p)	65.1	64.9	64.9
Interim dividend for the year ended 31 March 2025 - 8.5p	-	-	39.8
	65.1	64.9	104.7

An interim dividend of 8.7p will be paid on 2 January 2026 to shareholders on the register on 21 November 2025 with an ex-dividend date of 20 November 2025 and the estimated amount to be paid of £40.8 million has not been included as a liability in these accounts. 

 

5.    Retirement benefit obligations

The Group operates defined benefit schemes in the United Kingdom and Europe.

	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Fair value of scheme assets	435.1	454.2	432.9
Present value of defined benefit obligations	(378.3)	(412.6)	(379.3)
Effect of asset ceiling / onerous liability	(65.4)	(61.8)	(67.5)
Retirement benefit net obligations	(8.6)	(20.2)	(13.9)
Amount recognised on the balance sheet - liability	(11.3)	(21.8)	(16.4)
Amount recognised on the balance sheet - asset	2.7	1.6	2.5

The calculation of the UK defined benefit obligation incorporated new census data and mortality assumptions consistent with those used for the preliminary results of the statutory funding valuation as at 31 March 2025. A change in the key assumptions on the UK scheme would have the following increase / (decrease) on the UK defined benefit obligations as at 30 September 2025:

		Increase in assumption	Decrease in assumption
		£m	£m
Effect on obligation of a 0.5 pts change to the assumed discount rate		(18.9)	20.8
Effect on obligation of a 0.25 pts change in the assumed inflation rate		9.2	(8.9)
Effect on obligation of a change of one year in assumed life expectancy		10.1	(8.2)

 

 

6.    Intangible assets

				Goodwill	Other intangibles	Total
				£m	£m	£m
Cost At 1 April 2024				646.3	692.0	1,338.3
Acquired with businesses				4.4	0.5	4.9
Additions				-	18.9	18.9
Disposals				-	(1.2)	(1.2)
Translation differences				(44.8)	(31.0)	(75.8)
At 30 September 2024				605.9	679.2	1,285.1
Measurement period adjustment				1.5	-	1.5
Additions				-	14.1	14.1
Disposals				-	(1.2)	(1.2)
Reclassifications				-	3.0	3.0
Translation differences				9.0	2.0	11.0
At 31 March 2025				616.4	697.1	1,313.5
Additions				-	14.9	14.9
Disposals (Note 11)				(2.0)	(0.7)	(2.7)
Translation differences				3.9	9.1	13.0
At 30 September 2025				618.3	720.4	1,338.7

 

Amortisation At 1 April 2024				-	355.7	355.7
Charge for the period				-	25.1	25.1
Impairment losses				-	0.5	0.5
Disposals				-	(1.0)	(1.0)
Translation differences				-	(6.5)	(6.5)
At 30 September 2024				-	373.8	373.8
Charge for the period				-	25.6	25.6
Impairment losses				-	12.3	12.3
Disposals				-	(1.1)	(1.1)
Reclassifications				-	2.4	2.4
Translation differences				-	1.6	1.6
At 31 March 2025				-	414.6	414.6
Charge for the period				-	22.8	22.8
Disposals (Note 11)				-	(0.1)	(0.1)
Translation differences				-	1.0	1.0
At 30 September 2025				-	438.3	438.3

 

Net book value
At 30 September 2025				618.3	282.1	900.4
At 30 September 2024				605.9	305.4	911.3
At 31 March 2025				616.4	282.5	898.9

 

7.    Inventories

	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
		restated1
	£m	£m	£m
Gross inventories	692.1	716.3	704.1
Inventory provisions	(92.6)	(90.7)	(86.8)
Net inventories	599.5	625.6	617.3

During the six months ended 30 September 2025 £15.4 million was recognised as an expense relating to the
write-down of inventories to net realisable value (six months ended 30 September 2024 restated¹: £12.7 million; year ended 31 March 2025: £22.2 million).

 

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

8.    Trade and other receivables

	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Gross trade receivables	599.0	556.4	615.9
Impairment allowance	(12.6)	(12.0)	(11.5)
Net trade receivables	586.4	544.4	604.4
Other receivables (including prepayments)	91.1	83.8	84.1
Trade and other receivables	677.5	628.2	688.5

Trade receivables are written off when there is no reasonable expectation of recovery, for example when a customer enters liquidation or the Group agrees with the customer to write off an outstanding invoice. During the six months ended 30 September 2025 £2.3 million was recognised as a loss from the impairment of trade receivables (six months ended 30 September 2024: £3.1 million; year ended 31 March 2025: £4.2 million).

 

9.    Net debt

	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Cash and short-term deposits	219.2	274.2	147.7
Bank overdrafts	(132.1)	(160.1)	(41.7)
Cash and cash equivalents	87.1	114.1	106.0
Non-current private placement loan notes	(149.5)	(149.1)	(153.2)
Non-current multicurrency revolving credit facility	(65.0)	(200.0)	(112.6)
Non-current term loan	(130.1)	(125.3)	(124.2)
Current money market loans	-	(20.0)	-
Unsecured bank facility repayable within one year	(21.9)	-	(23.5)
Current lease liabilities	(15.9)	(14.8)	(15.5)
Non-current lease liabilities	(38.1)	(41.8)	(41.2)
Net debt	(333.4)	(436.9)	(364.2)

See Note 15 for definition of net debt which is an APM.

Movements in net debt were:

		Borrowings	Lease liabilities	Total liabilities from financing activities	Cash and cash equivalents	Net debt
		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Net debt at 1 April 2024		(440.3)	(73.9)	(514.2)	96.0	(418.2)
Cash flows		(65.0)	7.2	(57.8)	27.5	(30.3)
Acquired with businesses		-	(2.3)	(2.3)	-	(2.3)
Net lease disposal		-	10.1	10.1	-	10.1
Translation differences		10.9	2.3	13.2	(9.4)	3.8
Net debt at 30 September 2024		(494.4)	(56.6)	(551.0)	114.1	(436.9)
Cash flows		83.7	8.5	92.2	(11.5)	80.7
Net lease additions		-	(7.0)	(7.0)	-	(7.0)
Translation differences		(2.8)	(1.6)	(4.4)	3.4	(1.0)
Net debt at 31 March 2025		(413.5)	(56.7)	(470.2)	106.0	(364.2)
Cash flows		48.7	8.3	57.0	(22.1)	34.9
Net lease additions		-	(3.8)	(3.8)	-	(3.8)
Translation differences		(1.7)	(1.8)	(3.5)	3.2	(0.3)
Net debt at 30 September 2025		(366.5)	(54.0)	(420.5)	87.1	(333.4)

 

 

10.  Fair values of financial instruments

The derivative assets and derivative liabilities are measured at fair value using Level 2 inputs, estimated by discounting the future contractual cash flows using appropriate market-sourced data at the balance sheet date. The overall valuation is classified as level 2 on the fair value hierarchy.

For all financial assets and liabilities, fair value approximates the carrying amounts shown in the balance sheet except for the following:

	30.9.2025		30.9.2024		31.3.2025
	Carrying amounts	Fair value	Carrying amounts	Fair value	Carrying amounts	Fair value
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Private placement loan notes	(149.5)	(142.7)	(149.1)	(135.9)	(153.2)	(145.4)

The fair values are calculated by discounting future cash flows to net present values using prevailing interest rate curves, a Level 2 input, and indicative values of the Group's credit margin, a Level 3 input. The overall valuation is classified as level 3 on the fair value hierarchy.

 

11.  Disposal

On 1 August 2025 the Group disposed of its sales activities in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia to Boreo plc, the Group's exclusive regional distributor in those regions. RS will continue to supply Distrelec customers in these markets through an expanded distribution agreement. These activities were acquired on 30 June 2023 as part of the acquisition of Distrelec B.V. and its subsidiaries (Distrelec), a high-service, digital-led distributor of industrial and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) product in Europe, and were included in the EMEA segment. The transaction was in the form of both a transfer of share capital (Finland) and of assets and trade, with compensation received for any working capital liabilities (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia). The disposal includes the transfer of customer relationships and staff, excluding the shared service centre activities in Latvia which is retained by the Group. The gain on disposal was recognised in the income statement within operating profit and presented within central costs for segmental reporting.

The carrying value of the net assets disposed, consideration received and resulting gain on disposal were:

	£m
Goodwill (Note 6)	(2.0)
Intangible assets - customer relationships (Note 6)	(0.6)
Trade and other receivables	(0.3)
Cash and cash equivalents - cash and short-term deposits	(0.4)
Current trade and other payables	0.6
Deferred tax liabilities	0.1
Net assets disposed	(2.6)
Consideration received - cash	3.8
Consideration receivable	2.2
Total consideration	6.0
Gain on disposal	3.4

 

12.  Capital commitments

As at 30 September 2025, the Group is contractually committed to, but has not provided for, future capital expenditure of £5.2 million (30 September 2024: £3.5 million; 31 March 2025: £12.9 million) for property, plant and equipment and £4.2 million (30 September 2024: £3.3 million; 31 March 2025: £4.5 million) for intangible assets.

 

13.  Related party transactions

There has been no material change in related party relationships in the six months ended 30 September 2025. There were no significant related party transactions which have materially affected the financial position or performance of the Group during that period.

 

14.  Post balance sheet event

There were no material post balance sheet events.

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs)

The Group uses a number of APMs in addition to those measures reported in accordance with UK IAS. Such APMs are not defined terms under UK IAS and are not intended to be a substitute for any UK IAS measure. The Directors believe that the APMs are important when assessing the financial and operating performance of the Group. The APMs are used internally for performance analysis and in employee incentive arrangements, as well as in discussions with the investment analyst community.

The APMs improve the comparability of information between reporting periods by adjusting for factors such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, number of trading days and items, such as reorganisation costs, that are substantial in scope and impact and do not form part of operational or management activities that the Directors would consider when assessing performance. The Directors also believe that excluding recent acquisitions, amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles and acquisition-related items aids comparison of the performance between reporting periods and between businesses with similar assets that were internally generated.

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Adjusted profit measures

These are the equivalent UK IAS measures adjusted to exclude amortisation and impairment of intangible assets arising on acquisition of businesses, acquisition-related items, substantial reorganisation costs, substantial asset
write-downs, one-off pension credits or costs, significant tax rate changes and, where relevant, associated tax effects. Adjusted profit before tax is a performance measure for the annual incentive. Adjusted earnings per share is a performance measure for the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) awards. Adjusted operating profit conversion, adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted earnings per share are financial key performance indicators (KPIs) which are used to measure the Group's progress in delivering the successful implementation of its strategy and monitor and drive its performance.

	Operating costs	Operating profit	Operating profit margin1	Operating profit conversion2	Profit before tax	Profit for the period	Basic earnings per share	Diluted earnings per share
	£m	£m	%	%	£m	£m	p	p
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Reported	(482.7)	122.1	8.7%	20.2%	112.2	83.0	17.7p	17.7p
Amortisation of acquired intangibles	9.9	9.9			9.9	7.5	1.6p	1.6p
Acquisition-related items	(10.5)	(10.5)			(10.5)	(7.9)	(1.7)p	(1.7)p
Adjusted	(483.3)	121.5	8.7%	20.1%	111.6	82.6	17.6p	17.6p
Six months ended 30 September 2024 (restated3)
Reported	(496.0)	119.0	8.3%	19.3%	104.7	77.4	16.4p	16.4p
Amortisation of acquired intangibles	13.5	13.5			13.5	10.1	2.1p	2.1p
Adjusted	(482.5)	132.5	9.2%	21.5%	118.2	87.5	18.5p	18.5p

⁽¹⁾ Operating profit margin is operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenue.

⁽²⁾ Operating profit conversion is operating profit expressed as a percentage of gross profit.

⁽³⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

Acquisition-related items comprise transaction costs directly attributable to the acquisition of businesses, any deferred consideration payments relating to the retention of former owners of acquired businesses expensed as remuneration, adjustments to acquisition-related indemnification assets and the related liabilities that result from events after the acquisition date and any remeasurements of contingent consideration payable on acquisition of businesses that result from events after the acquisition date. Items recognised in the period related to legal settlement income following a successful arbitration relating to a historical acquisition.

Like-for-like revenue and profit measures

Like-for-like revenue and profit measures are adjusted to exclude the effects of changes in exchange rates on translation of overseas profits. They exclude acquisitions in the relevant periods until they have been owned for a year, at which point they start to be included in both the current and comparative periods for the same number of months. The Group excluding these acquisitions owned for less than a year is referred to as base business. These measures enable management and investors to track more easily, and consistently, the performance of the business.

The principal exchange rates applied in preparing the Group accounts and in calculating the following like-for-like measures are:

	Average for six months ended		Closing
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
US dollar	1.342	1.281	1.345	1.339	1.293
Euro	1.166	1.178	1.145	1.197	1.198

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Like-for-like revenue change

Like-for-like revenue change is also adjusted to eliminate the impact of trading days year on year. It is calculated by comparing the revenue of the base business for the current period with the prior period converted at the current period's average exchange rates and pro-rated for the same number of trading days as the current period. It is a performance measure for the annual bonus and a financial KPI.

				£m
Revenue for six months ended 30 September 2024 (H1 2024/25)				1,441.2
Effect of exchange rates				(21.6)
Effect of trading days				(8.8)
Revenue for H1 2024/25 at H1 2025/26 rates and trading days				1,410.8

 

	H1 2025/26 Group	Less: acquisitions owned <1 year	H1 2025/26 base business	H1 2024/25	H1 2024/25 at H1 2025/26 rates and trading days	Like-for-like change
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
EMEA	863.9	-	863.9	878.8	878.7	(2)%
Americas	428.8	-	428.8	452.2	425.8	1%
Asia Pacific	110.1	-	110.1	110.2	106.3	4%
Revenue	1,402.8	-	1,402.8	1,441.2	1,410.8	(1)%

 

Gross margin and like-for-like gross margin change

Gross margin is gross profit divided by revenue. Like-for-like change in gross margin is calculated by taking the difference between gross margin for the base business for the current period and gross margin for the prior period with reported revenue and reported gross profit converted at the current period's average exchange rates.

	H1 2025/26 Group	Less: acquisitions owned <1 year	H1 2025/26 base business	H1 2024/25 restated1	H1 2024/25 at H1 2025/26 rates	Like-for-like change
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	pts
Revenue	1,402.8	-	1,402.8	1,441.2	1,419.6
Gross profit	604.8	-	604.8	615.0	608.2
Gross margin	43.1%	-	43.1%	42.7%	42.8%	0.3pts

 

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

 

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Like-for-like profit change

Like-for-like change in profit is calculated by comparing the base business for the current period with the prior period converted at the current period's average exchange rates.

	H1 2025/26 Group	Less: acquisitions owned <1 year	H1 2025/26 base business	H1 2024/25 restated1	H1 2024/25 at H1 2025/26 rates	Like-for-like change
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Segmental operating profit
EMEA	86.0	-	86.0	95.0	96.5	(11)%
Americas	35.1	-	35.1	41.1	38.4	(9)%
Asia Pacific	3.4	-	3.4	3.1	2.4	42%
Segmental operating profit	124.5	-	124.5	139.2	137.3	(9)%
Central costs	(3.0)	-	(3.0)	(6.7)	(6.7)	(55)%
Adjusted operating profit	121.5	-	121.5	132.5	130.6	(7)%
Adjusted profit before tax	111.6	-	111.6	118.2	116.1	(4)%
Adjusted basic earnings per share	17.6p	-	17.6p	18.5p	18.2p	(3)%
Adjusted diluted earnings per share	17.6p	-	17.6p	18.5p
Segmental revenue
EMEA	863.9	-	863.9	878.8	885.7
Americas	428.8	-	428.8	452.2	427.3
Asia Pacific	110.1	-	110.1	110.2	106.6
Revenue	1,402.8	-	1,402.8	1,441.2	1,419.6
Segmental operating profit margin
EMEA	10.0%	-	10.0%	10.8%	10.9%	(0.9) pts
Americas	8.2%	-	8.2%	9.1%	9.0%	(0.8) pts
Asia Pacific	3.1%	-	3.1%	2.8%	2.3%	0.8 pts
Adjusted operating profit margin	8.7%	-	8.7%	9.2%	9.2%	(0.5) pts

 

 

Adjusted free cash flow and adjusted operating cash flow conversion

Adjusted free cash flow is the net cash from operating activities less purchase of intangible assets, property, plant and equipment plus any proceeds on sale of intangible assets, property, plant and equipment adjusted for the impact of substantial reorganisation and acquisition-related items cash flows and is a performance measure for the annual bonus.

Adjusted operating cash flow is adjusted free cash flow before income tax and net interest paid. Adjusted operating cash flow conversion is adjusted operating cash flow expressed as a percentage of adjusted operating profit and is a financial KPI.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Net cash from operating activities	121.6	114.0	259.1
Purchase of intangible assets	(16.2)	(20.5)	(33.1)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	(8.9)	(4.4)	(16.2)
Add back: impact of substantial reorganisation cash flows	-	-	0.2
Add back: impact of acquisition-related items cash flows	(10.5)	-	4.1
Adjusted free cash flow	86.0	89.1	214.1
Add back: income tax paid	33.3	33.8	60.4
Add back: net interest paid	11.0	14.9	29.3
Adjusted operating cash flow	130.3	137.8	303.8
Adjusted operating profit	121.5	132.5	274.2
Adjusted operating cash flow conversion	107.2%	104.0%	110.8%

 

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and net debt to adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA is operating profit excluding depreciation and amortisation. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA (one of the Group's debt covenants) is the ratio of net debt to EBITDA excluding impairment of intangible assets arising on acquisition of businesses, acquisition-related items, substantial reorganisation costs, substantial asset write-downs and one-off pension credits or costs on an annualised basis covering the preceding twelve-month period. Net debt comprises cash and cash equivalents, borrowings and lease liabilities.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Operating profit	122.1	119.0	232.8
Add back: depreciation and amortisation	40.1	42.3	85.4
EBITDA	162.2	161.3	318.2
Add back: impairment of acquired intangibles	-	-	11.3
Add back: acquisition-related items	(10.5)	-	4.1
Adjusted EBITDA for this period	151.7	161.3	333.6
Adjusted EBITDA for prior year	333.6	363.3
Less: adjusted EBITDA for prior first half	(161.3)	(179.3)
Annualised adjusted EBITDA	324.0	345.3	333.6
Net debt (Note 9)	(333.4)	(436.9)	(364.2)
Net debt to adjusted EBITDA	1.0x	1.3x	1.1x

 

Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) and EBITA to interest

EBITA is adjusted EBITDA after depreciation. EBITA to interest (one of the Group's debt covenants) is the ratio of EBITA to finance costs including capitalised interest less finance income (interest per debt covenants) on an annualised basis covering the preceding twelve-month period.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Adjusted EBITDA for this period	151.7	161.3	333.6
Less: depreciation	(17.3)	(17.3)	(34.7)
EBITA for this period	134.4	144.0	298.9
EBITA for prior year	298.9	327.8
Less: EBITA for prior first half	(144.0)	(161.5)
Annualised adjusted EBITA	289.3	310.3	298.9
Finance costs	10.9	17.6	32.0
Less: finance income	(0.7)	(3.1)	(4.7)
Interest per debt covenants for this period	10.2	14.5	27.3
Interest per debt covenants for prior year	27.3	31.9
Less: interest per debt covenants for prior first half	(14.5)	(12.8)
Annualised interest per debt covenants	23.0	33.6	27.3
EBITA to interest	12.6x	9.2x	10.9x

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

ROCE is annualised adjusted operating profit expressed as a percentage of annualised monthly average net assets excluding net cash / debt and retirement benefit obligations and is an underpin for the LTIP Award and a financial KPI. Annualised monthly average net assets, annualised average net debt and annualised average retirement benefit net (assets) / obligations are the average of those respective month-end balances of the preceding thirteen months.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Annualised monthly average net assets	1,353.6	1,385.9	1,374.9
Add back: annualised average net debt	381.2	439.8	414.7
Add back: annualised average retirement benefit net (assets) / obligations	14.4	25.7	20.2
Annualised average capital employed	1,749.2	1,851.4	1,809.8
Adjusted operating profit for this period	121.5	132.5	274.2
Adjusted operating profit for prior year	274.2	306.2
Less: adjusted operating profit for prior first half	(132.5)	(151.3)
Annualised adjusted operating profit	263.2	287.4	274.2
ROCE	15.0%	15.5%	15.2%

Working capital as a percentage of revenue

Working capital is inventories, current trade and other receivables and current trade and other payables.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Inventories	599.5	625.6	617.3
Current trade and other receivables	677.5	628.2	688.5
Current trade and other payables	(591.1)	(547.4)	(611.0)
Working capital	685.9	706.4	694.8
Revenue for this period	1,402.8	1,441.2	2,903.5
Revenue for prior year	2,903.5	2,942.4
Less: revenue for prior first half	(1,441.2)	(1,446.7)
Annualised revenue	2,865.1	2,936.9	2,903.5
Working capital as a percentage of revenue	23.9%	24.1%	23.9%

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

 

15.  Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) (continued)

 

Inventory turn

Inventory turn is annualised cost of sales divided by inventories.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024 restated1	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Cost of sales for this period	798.0	826.2	1,660.3
Cost of sales for prior year	1,660.3	1,684.1
Less: cost of sales for prior first half	(826.2)	(818.1)
Annualised cost of sales	1,632.1	1,692.2	1,660.3
Inventories	599.5	625.6	617.3
Inventory turn	2.7	2.7	2.7

⁽¹⁾ Please refer to Note 16 for further details of the restatement.

Ratio of capital expenditure to depreciation

Ratio of capital expenditure to depreciation is capital expenditure divided by depreciation and amortisation excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles and depreciation of right-of-use assets.

	Six months ended		Year ended
	30.9.2025	30.9.2024	31.3.2025
	£m	£m	£m
Depreciation and amortisation	40.1	42.3	85.4
Less: amortisation of acquired intangibles	(9.9)	(13.5)	(26.0)
Less: depreciation of right-of-use assets	(8.7)	(8.6)	(17.2)
Adjusted depreciation and amortisation	21.5	20.2	42.2
Capital expenditure	23.5	22.5	48.9
Ratio of capital expenditure to depreciation	1.1 times	1.1 times	1.2 times

 

 

16.  Prior Period Adjustments

In completing the 2025 year end, the Group identified a prior period adjustment which has an impact on the results for the period ended 30 September 2024. The impact of the prior period adjustment on the condensed financial statements is presented in the tables below.

 

Inventory and related tax balances

During the year ended 31 March 2025, the Group identified errors in relation to the calculation of the inventory obsolescence provision. As explained in note 18 of the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts (page 174), in order to determine the value of the inventory provision, inventory is allocated into different categories based on the number of years required to sell the amounts held, based on the current "run rate" of sales. Depending on the number of years sales required, different provisioning percentages are applied to each category in order to estimate the recoverable value.

 

During the year ended 31 March 2025, the Group identified that certain inventory lines had been allocated to the incorrect category and as a result, an incorrect provisioning percentage had been applied in determining the inventory provision in previous periods. In addition, it was identified that the Group provisioning policy was not being consistently applied across the Group. As a result, comparative financial information has been restated to correct for the incorrect classification of amounts between categories, and the failure of certain components to comply with the Group's internal provisioning policies.

 

The aggregate impact of the two errors is an overstatement of the Group inventory during the six months ended 30 September 2024. The restatement decreases the Group's inventory balance by £18.6 million at 30 September 2024.

 

As a consequence of the above change there is an impact on taxation. There is an additional decrease to the deferred tax liabilities of £4.6 million at 30 September 2024.

 

The net impact on opening reserves as at 1 April 2024 was £14.0 million including £0.6 million impact on the translation reserve. In the six months ended 30 September 2024, the impact on profit after tax was £0.8 million, offset by foreign exchange translation income of £0.8m in other comprehensive income.

16.  Prior Period Adjustments (continued)

 

The following tables summarise the Group's condensed financial statements for the periods indicated, giving effect to the restatements described above:

 

GROUP INCOME STATEMENT RESTATED

For the six months ended 30 September 2024

 

	Reported	Inventory	Tax	Restated
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Revenue	1,441.2	-	-	1,441.2
Cost of sales	(825.1)	(1.1)	-	(826.2)
Gross profit	616.1	(1.1)	-	615.0
Operating costs	(496.0)	-	-	(496.0)
Operating profit	120.1	(1.1)	-	119.0
Finance income	3.1	-	-	3.1
Finance costs	(17.6)	-	-	(17.6)
Share of profit of joint venture	0.2	-	-	0.2
Profit before tax	105.8	(1.1)	-	104.7
Income tax expense	(27.6)	-	0.3	(27.3)
Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company	78.2	(1.1)	0.3	77.4
Earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company
Basic	16.6p	(0.2)p	-	16.4p
Diluted	16.6p	(0.2)p	-	16.4p

 

GROUP STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME RESTATED

For the six months ended 30 September 2024

 

	Reported	Inventory	Tax	Restated
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Profit for the period	78.2	(1.1)	0.3	77.4
Other comprehensive income
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Remeasurement of retirement benefit obligations	(0.6)	-	-	(0.6)
Related income tax	0.1	-	-	0.1
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement
Foreign exchange translation differences of joint venture	(0.2)	-	-	(0.2)
Foreign exchange translation differences	(102.9)	1.1	(0.3)	(102.1)
Fair value gain on net investment hedges	10.9	-	-	10.9
Movement in cash flow hedges	3.0	-	-	3.0
Related income tax	(0.8)	-	-	(0.8)
Other comprehensive (expense) / income for the period	(90.5)	1.1	(0.3)	(89.7)
Total comprehensive loss for the period	(12.3)	-	-	(12.3)
Total comprehensive loss is attributable to:
Owners of the Company	(12.3)	-	-	(12.3)
Non-controlling interests	-	-	-	-
Total comprehensive loss for the period	(12.3)	-	-	(12.3)

 

 

16.  Prior Period Adjustments (continued)

 

GROUP BALANCE SHEET RESTATED

As at 30 September 2024

 

	Reported	Inventory	Tax	Restated
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	911.3	-	-	911.3
Property, plant and equipment	172.6	-	-	172.6
Right-of-use assets	54.3	-	-	54.3
Investment in joint venture	0.8	-	-	0.8
Other receivables	5.8	-	-	5.8
Retirement benefit net assets	1.6	-	-	1.6
Deferred tax assets	7.1	-	-	7.1
Total non-current assets	1,153.5	-	-	1,153.5
Current assets
Inventories	644.2	(18.6)	-	625.6
Trade and other receivables	628.2	-	-	628.2
Cash and cash equivalents - cash and short-term deposits	274.2	-	-	274.2
Derivative assets	4.0	-	-	4.0
Current income tax receivables	25.2	-	-	25.2
Total current assets	1,575.8	(18.6)	-	1,557.2
Total assets	2,729.3	(18.6)	-	2,710.7
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	(547.4)	-	-	(547.4)
Cash and cash equivalents - bank overdrafts	(160.1)	-	-	(160.1)
Borrowings	(20.0)	-	-	(20.0)
Lease liabilities	(14.8)	-	-	(14.8)
Derivative liabilities	(2.3)	-	-	(2.3)
Provisions	(2.0)	-	-	(2.0)
Current income tax liabilities	(24.6)	-	-	(24.6)
Total current liabilities	(771.2)	-	-	(771.2)
Non-current liabilities
Other payables	(11.3)	-	-	(11.3)
Retirement benefit obligations	(21.8)	-	-	(21.8)
Borrowings	(474.4)	-	-	(474.4)
Lease liabilities	(41.8)	-	-	(41.8)
Provisions	(5.9)	-	-	(5.9)
Deferred tax liabilities	(91.1)	-	4.6	(86.5)
Total non-current liabilities	(646.3)	-	4.6	(641.7)
Total liabilities	(1,417.5)	-	4.6	(1,412.9)
Net assets	1,311.8	(18.6)	4.6	1,297.8
Equity
Share capital and share premium	287.1	-	-	287.1
Own shares held by Employee Benefit Trust (EBT)	(43.9)	-	-	(43.9)
Other reserves	17.0	1.7	(0.3)	18.4
Retained earnings	1,051.0	(20.3)	4.9	1,035.6
Equity attributable to owners of the Company	1,311.2	(18.6)	4.6	1,297.2
Non-controlling interests	0.6	-	-	0.6
Total equity	1,311.8	(18.6)	4.6	1,297.8

 

16.  Prior Period Adjustments (continued)

 

GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT RESTATED

For the six months ended 30 September 2024

 

	Reported	Inventory	Tax	Restated
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before tax	105.8	(1.1)	-	104.7
Depreciation and amortisation	42.3	-	-	42.3
Impairment of intangible assets	0.5	-	-	0.5
Impairment of right-of-use assets	-	-	-	-
Loss on disposal of non-current assets	0.1	-	-	0.1
Equity-settled share-based payments	3.8	-	-	3.8
Net finance costs	14.5	-	-	14.5
Share of profit of and dividends received from joint venture	0.3	-	-	0.3
(Increase) / decrease in inventories	(4.9)	1.1	-	(3.8)
Decrease in trade and other receivables	52.6	-	-	52.6
Decrease in trade and other payables	(45.0)	-	-	(45.0)
Decrease in provisions	(1.5)	-	-	(1.5)
Defined benefit retirement contributions in excess of charge	(5.8)	-	-	(5.8)
Cash generated from operations	162.7	-	-	162.7
Interest received	3.1	-	-	3.1
Interest paid	(18.0)	-	-	(18.0)
Income tax paid	(33.8)	-	-	(33.8)
Net cash from operating activities	114.0	-	-	114.0
Cash flows from investing activities		-	-
Acquisition of businesses	(8.2)	-	-	(8.2)
Purchase of intangible assets	(20.5)	-	-	(20.5)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	(4.4)	-	-	(4.4)
Net cash used in investing activities	(33.1)	-	-	(33.1)
Cash flows from financing activities		-	-
Proceeds from the issue of share capital	0.2	-	-	0.2
Purchase of own shares by EBT	(46.5)	-	-	(46.5)
Net increase in revolving facility and short term loans	64.9	-	-	64.9
Other loans drawn down	0.1	-	-	0.1
Principal elements of lease payments	(7.2)	-	-	(7.2)
Dividends paid	(64.9)	-	-	(64.9)
Net cash used in financing activities	(53.4)	-	-	(53.4)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	27.5	-	-	27.5
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	96.0	-	-	96.0
Effects of exchange rate changes	(9.4)	-	-	(9.4)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	114.1	-	-	114.1

 

INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO RS GROUP PLC (THE "GROUP")

Conclusion

We have been engaged by the Group to review the condensed set of consolidated financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 September 2025 which comprises the income statement, the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in equity and related notes 1 to 16.

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 September 2025 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34 and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.

Basis for Conclusion

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK) 2410 "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Financial Reporting Council for use in the United Kingdom (ISRE (UK) 2410). A review of interim financial information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

As disclosed in Note 1, the annual financial statements of the Group are prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The condensed set of financial statements included in this half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34, "Interim Financial Reporting".

Conclusion Relating to Going Concern

Based on our review procedures, which are less extensive than those performed in an audit as described in the Basis for Conclusion section of this report, nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the Directors have inappropriately adopted the going concern basis of accounting or that the Directors have identified material uncertainties relating to going concern that are not appropriately disclosed.

This Conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410; however future events or conditions may cause the entity to cease to continue as a going concern.

Responsibilities of the Directors

The Directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial report in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.

In preparing the half-yearly financial report, the Directors are responsible for assessing the Group's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Directors either intend to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's Responsibilities for the review of the financial information

In reviewing the half-yearly financial report, we are responsible for expressing to the Group a conclusion on the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report. Our Conclusion, including our Conclusion Relating to Going Concern, are based on procedures that are less extensive than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for Conclusion paragraph of this report.

 

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Group in accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Group those matters we are required to state to it in an independent review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Group, for our review work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.

 

 

 

Deloitte LLP

Statutory Auditor

London, United Kingdom

5 November 2025