Debenhams Group, the former boohoo group, has capped a year of heavy restructuring with sharply higher profitability and, more importantly for the investment case, a return to growth in early FY27.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 34.6% to £53.3m for the year to 28 February 2026, with the margin widening to 5.8% from 3.3%.
That came despite headline revenue falling 24.7% to £917m, a telegraphed decline reflecting its pivot to a higher-margin marketplace model where only commission, not the full transaction value, is booked as revenue. Gross margin ticked up 40 basis points to 51.1%, the first improvement since FY22.
The standout was the Debenhams brand itself, now the largest in the group.
GMV grew 11.6% to £730m and adjusted EBITDA climbed 38.5% to £34.8m, accounting for roughly two-thirds of group profit.
The marketplace has scaled to more than 25,000 partner brands, and management sees a clear path to £1bn GMV and £50m-plus EBITDA within three years.
The slight step down in shares on Tuesday likely reflects the strong performance of shares going into results, and the 3.0% decline seems to be a bout of profit-taking rather than any major disappointment.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Boohoo has made great progress on its turnaround plan over the past year. While the headline revenue figure shows a sharp decline, this isn’t too worrying for now.
“The main driver is its shift to a marketplace model, in which third-party brands sell their goods on the group’s online platform. The group earns a commission on these sales, and only this portion is recognised as revenue. While that weighs on the top line, it’s higher margin, so profits are holding up better. The cost base has also been reset, helped by warehouse and tech platform consolidations, contract renegotiations, and debt refinancing, saving over £100mn in annual costs. As a result, all of the group’s brands are now profitable on an underlying cash basis (EBITDA).”