Boohoo Group (AIM:DEBS), now trading as Debenhams Group, said earnings (adjusted EBITDA) rose 13.9% to £24m in the six months to 31 August, up from £21m a year earlier.
Reported EBITDA jumped to £20m from a loss of £3m in the prior-year period, a £23m swing driven largely by an 83.5% reduction in exceptional costs to £4m.
Gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 1.8% year on year, accelerating from 0.5% growth in the first quarter to 2.9% in the second, with the Debenhams brand up 14.1% and now representing around 41% of Group GMV.
Marketplace GMV reached a record 38.9% of the total, up from 32.7% a year earlier, supported by a partner ecosystem that has expanded to around 30,000 brands.
Gross margin expanded to 53.9% from 51.9%, while net debt fell to £102m from £111m.
"Our turnaround continues at pace," said chief executive Dan Finley, adding that the shape of growth "matters more than the headline".
Since the half-year end, the Group completed a £90m disposal of its Sheffield automation and lease assets, shifting fulfilment to a third-party logistics provider at no higher cost, and sold the Nasty Gal brand for $16m.
The Board expects full-year Adjusted EBITDA of no less than £59m, in line with consensus and representing double-digit growth, alongside a return to positive pre-tax profit, free cash flow generation and negligible net debt by the February 2027 year end.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Boohoo Group (now Debenhams Group) posted adjusted EBITDA growth of 13.9% to £24m in H1, with GMV acceleration from 0.5% to 2.9% quarter-on-quarter and the Debenhams brand surging 14.1%, while reiterating full-year guidance for double-digit adjusted EBITDA growth and a path to negligible net debt by February 2027. The turnaround is being powered by asset disposals—£90m from the Sheffield distribution centre sale to Primark and $16m from the Nasty Gal brand sale—which are expected to unlock material cost savings and improve the balance sheet.
The company is executing a clear deleveraging and profitability roadmap: net debt fell £9m to £102m in H1 alone, and with expected annual depreciation savings of about £12m and interest cost reductions of at least £10m from the recent transactions, the path to a net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio below 1.0x by February 2027 appears credible. The acceleration in GMV growth and margin expansion (to 53.9%) suggest underlying operational momentum beyond one-off asset sales.
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