DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited 2025 Preliminary Announcement Of Results
DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited 2025 Preliminary Announcement Of Results
Selasa, 03 Maret 2026 | 21:27
The following announcement was issued today to a Regulatory
Information Service approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in the
United Kingdom.
DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
2025 PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
Highlights
- Underlying profit reached the high-end of guidance at US$270 million, up 35% year-on-year
- Reported profit of US$235 million, up US$480 million year-on-year
- Health and Beauty delivered strong like-for-like (LFL) sales and profit growth
- Convenience returned to profit
growth in the second half of 2025, supported by a favourable mix shift
towards higher-margin, non-cigarette categories
- Strengthening value-driven, omnichannel proposition in Food and Home Furnishings
- Divestments of Yonghui, Robinsons
Retail and Singapore Food underscored the Group's transition from a
portfolio to a focused operating company and strengthened balance sheet
to a net cash position
- Returned approximately US$740 million to shareholders for the full year 2025, including a US$600 million special dividend
- Final dividend of US¢10.50 per share based on a new 70% payout policy announced in December 2025
“Effective execution of our strategy drove strong financial
performance and higher shareholder returns in 2025, despite a
challenging retail environment. Our significant progress made in
portfolio simplification creates investment capacity for strategic
priorities, enabling greater value for our customers and accretive
inorganic opportunities to drive sustainable growth and returns.”
Lincoln Pan
Chairman
DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
INTRODUCTION
It is my honour and privilege to join DFI Retail Group (‘DFI' or
the ‘Group') as Chairman of the Board, supporting Group Chief Executive,
Scott Price, and his leadership team in executing its strategic
priorities and delivering shareholder returns. On behalf of the Board, I
would also like to express our gratitude to John Witt for his
invaluable contributions to DFI over many years.
As Asia's leading multi-format retail platform, DFI has a unique
set of assets – strong customer trust, an extensive store network across
markets, deep data insights from a powerful loyalty programme, and a
strengthening Own Brand portfolio – that will serve as a foundation for
growth over the coming years.
Amid macroeconomic volatility and evolving consumer needs, the
Group has been responding effectively through a stronger value
proposition and enhanced omnichannel capabilities. This strategy is
yielding early and encouraging results, demonstrated by a 35% increase
in underlying profit in 2025. We remain particularly optimistic about
the growth prospects in Health & Beauty and Convenience, as well as
the opportunities emerging in digital.
I am confident that under the capable leadership of Scott and his
team, DFI will continue to deliver retail excellence to customers across
Asia while driving long-term value creation and growth.
Under a new 70% dividend payout policy announced in December
2025, the Board recommends a final dividend of US¢10.50 per share (2024
final dividend: US¢7.00).
STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS
Over the course of 2025, the Group executed effectively against
its strategic framework of Customer First, People Led, Shareholder
Driven. This approach enables DFI to navigate market challenges while
capturing opportunities that build on its strong platform for
sustainable growth.
The retail landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by shifting
consumer behaviour and digitalisation. The Group remains focused on
strategic priorities that place customers first – delivering quality,
value and convenience in everyday moments. Across its businesses, the
Group made good progress in strengthening value propositions, expanding
customer reach in growth markets, driving deeper customer engagement
with data-driven insights and accelerating digital monetisation. These
initiatives enhance its ability to better serve customers and supplier
partners while delivering returns to shareholders.
Investing in talent development remains at the top of the
agenda. During the year, the Group achieved an improved team member
engagement score. Inclusive leadership, a purpose-driven culture and
engaged team members are critical to driving stronger performance and
delivering exceptional customer experience. In parallel, the Group
continues to enhance its organisational agility in meeting customer
needs while reducing overhead costs.
In 2025, the Group completed the divestments of minority
stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as Singapore Food
business, enabling reinvestment in subsidiary businesses and strategic
priorities with stronger growth and return potential. This approach,
combined with a sharpened business focus and a strengthened balance
sheet, delivered a total shareholder return exceeding 90% in 2025,
including the distribution of a US$600 million special dividend in
October.
PROSPECTS
Transformation is an ongoing journey for today's retailers.
Serving diverse communities across Asia, where economic conditions and
consumer expectations vary widely, the Group must stay agile and locally
relevant guided by a customer-first mindset and a disciplined focus on
growth opportunities that further build on its competitive advantages.
Over the year, DFI has invested in delivering better outcomes for
customers through price reinvestment, Own Brand innovation, omnichannel
expansion and data-driven personalisation – focus areas that will remain
central to its growth plans in the years ahead. An expanded digital
ecosystem also unlocks new avenues to drive deeper value for supplier
partners and enhance shareholder returns.
I would like to end by expressing the Board's appreciation
to our team members. We could not be more proud of the work they have
done over the year, particularly in responding to the deeply tragic Tai
Po fire in Hong Kong. Their unwavering dedication to serving our
customers across Asia is what will continue to drive our business
forward and build long-term value for shareholders.
Lincoln Pan
Chairman
GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
We are pleased to close 2025 on a strong note, with
underlying profit attributable to shareholders up 35% year-on-year to
US$270 million, reaching the high end of our guidance range. This strong
performance was driven by a recovery in LFL subsidiary sales, improved
margins and proactive portfolio actions, including the divestment of our
minority stake in Yonghui.
Customers across Asia, including in our home market of
Hong Kong, are increasingly seeking quality and convenience at great
value. While macro challenges remain, we are encouraged to see early
signs of recovery in key retail segments, including 3% growth in health
and beauty sales in Hong Kong, supported by a 12% increase in tourist
arrivals. As Asia's leading multi-format omnichannel retail platform, we
are uniquely positioned to meet customers' evolving needs effectively
across all channels through relevant and compelling customer
propositions.
With a renewed focus on balancing profitability with
capital discipline, the Group ended the year in a net cash position,
after distributing a US$600 million special dividend, and delivered a
significantly improved return on capital employed (ROCE) of 9.4%. Our
strengthened balance sheet allows us to reinvest for growth as we deepen
our focus on higher-return subsidiary businesses and strategic
priorities that sustain value creation for shareholders. For the full
year 2025, we returned a total of approximately US$740 million to
shareholders, including the special dividend.
In December, we held our inaugural Investor Day where
DFI announced a new dividend policy with an increased payout ratio of
70%. Dividends paid during the year, combined with a share price
increase of more than 70%, resulted in a total shareholder return
exceeding 90% in 2025. We also outlined our three-year plan for
realising our financial ambitions and accelerated growth goals,
including a target of US$310-350 million in underlying profit
(representing 11% CAGR at the mid-point compared to 20251) and an improved ROCE of at least 15% by 2028.
As we enter the new financial year, we remain firmly
focused on executing our strategic priorities to drive sustained,
profitable growth.
STRATEGIC DELIVERABLES – KEY PROGRESS
Over the past year, we have made significant
progress in our transformation from a portfolio business into a
strategically focused operating company. We have been advancing our
strategy across five key deliverables to create greater value for our
customers, supplier partners and shareholders.
Retail Excellence
By delivering best-in-class customer propositions,
we see a wide range of opportunities for driving higher store sales
density and market share gain across all business segments.
Health & Beauty
Mannings and Guardian continue to strengthen their
position as the trusted advisor for wellness, unlocking strong
cross-category growth opportunities through an assortment with high
functional value across supplements, derma skin care and hair care.
Customers across Asia are increasingly shifting to retailers that best
fulfil their broad, diverse and unique wellness goals. Our
technology-enabled personalised services – including skin, scalp and
health assessments – drive higher purchase conversion and basket size by
deepening customer understanding of their wellness needs. These
capabilities will be expanded to 25% of our Health & Beauty store
network to enhance our competitive differentiation and leadership in
wellness.
Convenience
7-Eleven is broadening its shopper missions towards
higher-margin, non-cigarette categories with a strategic focus on
ready-to-eat (RTE) offerings, which accounted for 24% of Convenience
sales in 2025. Across markets, consumers are seeking more convenient,
high-quality and value-driven meal solutions. The expansion of Food Bars
to 1,250 locations in South China and the rollout of RTE-focused store
revamp across the entire Hong Kong network by 2028 will further
strengthen 7-Eleven's RTE proposition.
Food
Given consumers' pivot towards value, continued
northbound travel and increasing competition from Chinese mainland
e-commerce platforms, the Wellcome team has focused on enhancing food
basket value for customers by advancing our Everyday Low Price strategy.
Investment in reduced pricing through strategic direct sourcing of core
basket items, particularly in fresh, has resulted in a 2% growth in
volume driven by higher footfall and increased items per basket. Direct
sourcing allowed us to reduce prices while protecting gross profit,
resulting in a 30-basis point gross margin improvement. These efforts
further supported the narrowing basket price gap compared to the Greater
Bay Area to a currently low single-digit price difference2.
Home Furnishings
Similar to Food, IKEA has focused on enhancing its
affordability and accessibility by reinvesting in the pricing of
high-volume products, broadening the range of entry price points,
rationalising the tail of slow-selling assortment, and further expanding
digital touchpoints through third-party marketplaces. We are also
strengthening IKEA Food as a key draw for customers seeking exciting and
affordable food experiences as part of their store journey. These
efforts are supported by significant cost transformation initiatives
across our operating markets.
Own Brand
Our reset in Own Brand strategy across Food and
Health & Beauty is driving higher customer loyalty and sales
penetration through greater exclusivity and value. By refining our
product range to align closely with customer needs and maximising
cross-selling across our formats, we achieved meaningful improvements in
margins and sales productivity.
Access to Customers
We continue to strategically expand our network
in high-growth, profitable markets, primarily through a capex-light
franchise model, with 114 net new openings3 in 2025. In
particular, we will deepen 7-Eleven's presence in Guangdong province to
around 2,400 stores and expand Guardian's footprint in Indonesia to
approximately 750 stores by 2028.
Omnichannel and Data Ecosystem
DFI's expanded omnichannel ecosystem is
elevating our relevance and engagement with customers, providing us deep
data insights across daily consumer needs that few peers in Asia can
match. This ecosystem now allows our customers to engage with DFI brands
across more than 90 digital channels, including apps, websites,
third-party marketplaces, quick-commerce partnership with food delivery
platforms and click-and-collect services. Our strengthened digital
proposition was underpinned by a 140-basis point increase in online
sales penetration to 6.4%4 as at year-end 2025, with order
volume more than doubled year-on-year. Our overall digital ecosystem,
comprising e-commerce, retail media, insights monetisation and yuu,
continues to drive improved financial returns for the Group.
Retail Media (DFIQ Media)
Positioned to become Asia's leading
omnichannel retail media network, DFIQ Media offers a differentiated
online and offline advertising proposition, enabling brands to execute
cross-format campaigns through our digital assets and more than 10,000
in-store digital screens across markets. DFIQ Media delivered strong
sales growth, albeit from a low starting base, achieving a fourfold
increase in revenue over 2024, supported by proprietary data insights
from over 7 million monthly active users across our growing digital
portfolio.
DFIQ Portal
We aim to empower our supplier partners with
actionable insights that drive greater business impact and better
outcomes for customers. The DFIQ Portal – a vendor platform combining
DFIQ Media, DFIQ Insights and trade capabilities – was launched in
December 2025, providing suppliers real-time access to critical
analytics that enables optimised inventory management and more effective
strategic planning.
Retail Analytics
Leveraging cross-format data insights from
over 5 million yuu Rewards members in Hong Kong, we continue to enhance
our assortment and promotional decisions to help expand both in-store
sales and gross profit.
Lean & Agile Model
Maintaining a lean and agile operating model is
essential to ensuring efficient decision-making in a rapidly evolving
retail landscape. Continued cost optimisation and better product
sourcing will support both strategic price reinvestment and sustainable
margin expansion in the coming years. Overhead reductions are expected
to translate into lower SG&A costs beginning 2026. We remain
disciplined in capex, driving network growth primarily through a
franchise model with a strong focus on paybacks.
Strategic pivot from portfolio to a focused operating company
We conduct strategic reviews of our businesses
guided by return on capital and total shareholder return priorities.
During the year, we completed the divestment of our minority stakes in
Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as our Singapore Food business,
generating total gross proceeds of approximately US$1 billion in cash
consideration. In line with our capital allocation priorities, these
proceeds were redeployed towards debt repayment, resulting in a net cash
position of US$70 million as at year-end 2025. In addition, a special
dividend of US$600 million was distributed to shareholders in October
2025. The Group remains focused on maximising total shareholder return
while maintaining strategic flexibility for inorganic growth
opportunities that are accretive to long-term shareholder value.
2025 PERFORMANCE
Total revenue from subsidiaries in 2025 was
US$8.9 billion, up 1% on a LFL basis, excluding cigarettes. Organic
revenue, excluding divested businesses5 for the comparable
period, grew 0.5%. Strong sales growth in the Health & Beauty
division was offset by lower contributions from other segments.
Excluding the impact of the minority stake
divestments in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail completed in 2025, total
revenue for the Group, including 100% of associates and joint ventures,
remained broadly stable.
The Group reported total underlying profit
attributable to shareholders of US$270 million for the year, up 35%
year-on-year. This was supported by improved profitability from
subsidiary businesses, lower financing costs and higher underlying
profit from associates following the divestment of Yonghui.
Underlying profit from subsidiaries was US$183
million, 15% higher than the prior year. This was driven by strong
Health & Beauty performance in addition to earnings recovery in
Singapore Food and Home Furnishings segment, partially offset by lower
contribution from Convenience due to reduced cigarette volume.
The Group's share of underlying profit from
associates was US$88 million, an improvement of US$45 million compared
to the prior year, primarily due to the divestment of minority stake in
loss-making Yonghui and higher contribution from Maxim's as a result of
improved mooncake sales and restaurant performance in Southeast Asia.
Despite challenging trading conditions in Hong Kong and Chinese
mainland, Maxim's delivered profit growth in these regions through cost
optimisation.
The Group reported operating cash flow after
lease payments of US$430 million, 30% higher than the prior year,
supported by underlying operating profit growth. Free cash flow6 for
the period was US$281 million, up 78% year-on-year. As at 31 December
2025, the Group's net cash was US$70 million, compared to US$468 million
net debt at 31 December 2024.
SUSTAINABILITY
We remain firmly committed to our purpose to
sustainably serve Asia for generations with everyday moments – with a
focused, balanced, collaborative approach taking into account the
macroeconomic environment and consumer sentiment. We are driving
progress on our pathway to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by
2030 from a 2021 baseline, with our targeted investments in refrigerant
emissions management, energy efficiency, and behaviour-change
initiatives across our operations gaining momentum throughout the year.
From 2025 to 2030, we will further increase the share of renewable
energy use in our portfolio, helping to accelerate the energy transition
in the key markets where we operate.
As advocates for our customers and the
communities we serve, we are committed to delivering affordable,
sustainable products. In 2025, we delivered 380 tonnes of Own Brand
low-carbon rice to our Hong Kong markets and added multiple products
through our Grounds to Green programme to our 7-Eleven RTE range. These
award-winning initiatives demonstrate our ability to anticipate customer
expectations and deliver on market demands. We maintained strong
discipline in waste and packaging management, keeping us on track to
meet our 2030 targets.
BUSINESS REVIEW
HEALTH AND BEAUTY
Sales for the Health and Beauty division
grew 7% year-on-year or 5% on an LFL basis to US$2.6 billion. Underlying
operating profit was US$228 million for the year, representing an
increase of 8% compared to 2024.
Both Mannings and Guardian achieved strong
LFL sales performance, supported by growing wellness sales penetration
towards the mid-term target of over 35%. To further strengthen our
leadership in wellness – a cross-category opportunity spanning health,
beauty and personal care – Mannings and Guardian complemented their
wellness-focused assortment with in-store health, skin and scalp
assessments in selected outlets. Our personalised consultations and
tailored product recommendations deepen our engagement with customers,
supporting larger basket sizes and higher purchase conversion.
In Hong Kong and Macau, LFL sales increased by 5%, driven by strong
growth in tourist store sales from higher arrivals. Own Brand strategy
reset resulted in a 35% improvement in gross profit per SKU through a
refined product range that better aligns with customer needs. Sales of
Mannings China declined due to the closure of majority of its offline
store network as the business pivots towards a cross-border e-commerce
model.
Guardian in Southeast Asia reported 5% LFL sales increase, driven by
growth in basket sizes across key markets and an expanding e-commerce
presence, including the Guardian Malaysia loyalty programme launched in
March 2025 and a new Guardian Singapore app in July 2025. Indonesia and
Vietnam delivered LFL sales growth exceeding 10%, supported by strong
traffic gains. Gross margin expansion and operating leverage contributed
to operating profit growth of 16% in the region.
CONVENIENCE
Total Convenience sales were US$2.3 billion, representing a decline
of 2% year-on-year or 3% on an LFL basis, due to lower-margin cigarette
volume reductions following tax increases in Hong Kong in February 2024.
Excluding cigarettes, overall Convenience sales grew 1% compared to
2024 and were marginally lower on an LFL basis. Underlying operating
profit was US$97 million, down 6% year-on-year. Favourable sales mix
shift towards higher-margin non-cigarette categories drove a return to a
positive profit growth in the second half of 2025.
In Hong Kong, the Group expects to mitigate financial impact from
declining cigarette sales in 2026 and beyond through continued growth in
higher-margin non-cigarette categories, including RTE which accounted
for 18% of sales for the full year, up from 16% in 2024.
7-Eleven Singapore reported robust LFL sales growth driven by a
stronger RTE proposition and effective promotional campaigns. In South
China, continued store network expansion through a capex-light franchise
model, including 99 net increase in store number, contributed to 3%
sales growth. LFL sales, however, were down 2% largely due to intense
subsidy competition from food delivery platforms, primarily in the first
half of the year. The focus remains on driving footfall through
innovative RTE and Food Bar expansion to 1,250 stores by the end of
2028, compared to 325 as of year-end. Both markets saw meaningful profit
growth, supported by a favourable product mix shift and disciplined
cost control.
FOOD
Reported sales for the Food division were US$3.0 billion,
remaining stable compared to 2024 on an LFL basis. Underlying operating
profit reached US$62 million for the year, up 6% year-on-year, driven by
earnings recovery in Singapore Food following the distribution of
government consumption vouchers in 2025.
In Hong Kong, the Wellcome team strengthened its fresh and value
proposition through pricing reinvestment supported by strategic direct
sourcing. These efforts included a new partnership with Dingdong Maicai
(DDL) since May 2025 for a wider selection of price-competitive fresh
produce, as well as the Everyday Value campaign launched in September
2025, offering up to 40% savings on 100 core basket items. The team also
accelerated omnichannel growth through broader digital channels –
including a quick-commerce partnership with foodpanda and
click-and-collect services – and a shortened delivery time to same or
next day delivery, driving a more than 20% sales growth in Hong Kong
Food online sales. Despite a 1% LFL sales decline compared to the prior
year, total volume grew 2% driven by increased transactions and items
per basket.
Southeast Asia Food sales performance benefited from multiple
rounds of government consumption voucher distribution in Singapore
during the year, including S$800 vouchers for each household and S$600
vouchers for individuals in celebration of the nation's 60th
anniversary. These vouchers, which were redeemable at supermarkets and
heartland merchants, drove stronger sales in the Food segment.
Convenience and Health & Beauty did not see a similar uplift in
sales as the vouchers were not applicable to these outlets. Divestment
of Singapore Food business was completed in early December 2025.
Post-completion, the Group continues to serve the Singapore market
through its Guardian and 7-Eleven brands. As the only nationwide modern
trade operator in Cambodia, Lucky reported robust LFL sales growth with
strong margin expansion on scale benefits.
HOME FURNISHINGS
IKEA reported sales of US$677 million, down 3% year-on-year and
5% on an LFL basis, compared to an 11% LFL sales decline in 2024.
Operating profit was US$26 million, representing a meaningful
improvement from US$16 million in the prior year, driven by effective
cost control measures across markets.
Amid a challenging macro environment and reduced consumer demand
for big-ticket items due to subdued real estate market activity, the
IKEA team has prioritised enhancing its value proposition and
omnichannel presence. Key initiatives include price reductions on
high-volume products, rationalisation of non-core assortment, and a
broader range of entry price points. In Indonesia, the team has further
expanded digital partnerships with third-party marketplaces to improve
accessibility, supporting continued progress towards its overall online
sales penetration target of 18-20% by 2028. IKEA Food remains a critical
traffic and revenue driver, representing 14% of total sales.
These combined with significant cost optimisation efforts in
labour, supply chain and infrastructure across markets contributed to a
US$10 million improvement in overall profitability.
RESTAURANTS
The Group's share of Maxim's underlying profits was US$72
million in 2025, an increase of 9% year-on-year, supported by resilient
sales of US$3.1 billion, up 0.4% year-on-year, and ongoing cost
optimisation. Improved mooncake sales during the mid-autumn festival and
stronger restaurant performance in Southeast Asia was offset by
challenging trading environment in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
Cost management in these markets also supported overall profit growth.
During the year, Maxim's continued to expand its Southeast Asia network
with 84 net new stores added, mainly in Thailand and Vietnam.
OUTLOOK
2025 marked a year of strong progress for DFI, with the
strategic reset across our businesses driving improved underlying
profitability in both subsidiaries and associates, a stronger ROCE and
enhanced shareholder returns. Our strengthened balance sheet and
disciplined use of capital provides capacity to reinvest for growth both
organically and inorganically, laying a strong foundation as we pursue
our financial ambitions of achieving a US$310-350 million underlying
profit (+11% CAGR at midpoint compared to 20257) and a 7-10% online sales mix by 2028.
At our inaugural Investor Day, we outlined clear strategic
priorities which include strengthening our value proposition, enhancing
omnichannel capabilities, accelerating Own Brand innovation, deepening
digital monetisation, and leveraging data to deliver better outcomes for
both customers and supplier partners.
For the full year of 2026, the Group expects organic revenue growth of approximately 2-3%8 and
underlying profit attributable to shareholders to be between US$270
million and US$300 million. Excluding the divestment impact of Singapore
Food and Robinsons Retail, this would represent a year-on-year growth
of 13-25%.
Looking into 2026 and beyond, I am confident that DFI has
developed a renewed foundation as we execute against our strategic
priorities to deliver sustained, profitable growth, drive market share
gains across our formats and generate long-term returns for our
shareholders.
Scott Price
Group Chief Executive
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1 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025
2 Based on a third-party assured price comparison of a 200-item comparable basket between DFI and Greater Bay Area
3 Excluding Singapore Food. Divestment of business was completed in early December 2025.
4 Excluding Singapore Food, cigarettes under Convenience and IKEA food
5 Excluding financial contribution from Singapore Food
(December 2024) and Hero Supermarket (2024) for comparison purpose
6 Free cash flow is equivalent to cash flows from operating
activities after lease payments minus normal capital expenditure
7 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025
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