RS Group annual profit falls, maintains confidence in growth targets

RS Group PLC on Wednesday reported a fall in its annual profit and revenue, but said that it has ‘increased confidence’ in its medium-term targets.

In the year ended March 31, the London-based distributor of industrial and electronic products and service solutions reported pretax profit of £206.1 million, down 15% from £243.2 million the previous year.

RS Group revenue was £2.90 billion, down 1.3% to £2.94 billion.

This was attributed to ‘difficult industrial markets’, adding that it faced ‘weaker than anticipated global industrial demand and geopolitical uncertainties that continue to impact business confidence as reflected in weak manufacturing [purchasing managers’ index] data.’

The company’s operating costs were up 2.7% to £1.01 billion in financial 2025, from £983.8 million.

RS Group declared a final dividend of 13.9 pence, up 1.5% from 13.7 pence from a year earlier. Its total dividend rose 1.8% to 22.4 pence from 22.0 pence.

Looking forward, the company said it is confident in its medium-term target of growing revenue at twice the market with mid-teen adjusted operating margins. It also said it is confident in its medium-term target of over 20% return on capital employed.

Chief Executive Officer Simon Pryce said: ‘We are focusing on what we can control in markets that remain challenging, and we will continue to be agile in our execution and cost management whilst investing selectively for the future. We have a solid pipeline of acquisition opportunities to accelerate our strategy, supported by our strong balance sheet, and will remain value disciplined.

‘Importantly, we are making significant underlying progress. This gives us increased confidence in our ability to deliver our medium-term financial targets through accelerated growth and much improved operating leverage once markets recover.’

RS Group shares rose 0.3% to 603.50 pence in London on Wednesday morning.

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