The fashion group, which owns Sports Direct and Flannels, said its recent takeover bids and moves to build stakes in rivals are bolstering its balance sheet amid a ‘challenging environment’

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has reported a surge in profits as it accelerates its transformation strategy and embarks on a string of takeover approaches for international retailers.

The fashion conglomerate, whose portfolio includes Sports Direct and Flannels, stated that its recent acquisition bids and strategic shareholding activity are strengthening its financial position despite a “challenging environment”.

The FTSE 250 business recorded revenue growth of eight per cent to £3.3bn in the year ending April, while pre-tax profit climbed by 39 per cent to £528m.

The Derbyshire-based group has recently acquired South African sporting goods retailer Holdsport and Norwegian sports chain XXL, as reported by City AM.

“Leveraging the strength of our UK Sport business and brand relationships, international expansion has become a powerful growth engine for the Group and a key pillar of our long-term strategy,” the firm said.

Frasers has intensified its acquisition activity in recent weeks with a £1.7bn offer for German fashion house Hugo Boss and a £166m approach for Australian footwear retailer Accent.

The group had been accumulating shareholdings in these businesses prior to launching its bids. These investments contributed £50m to adjusted profit over the past year, Frasers disclosed.

The relatively modest four per cent premium attached to the group’s Hugo Boss bid had prompted speculation amongst analysts that the company was not pursuing outright ownership of the luxury label. Frasers appeared to reinforce this stance on Thursday, stating that “increasing its investment in Hugo Boss will create value” for its shareholders.

The group further declared that it “remains supportive” of Hugo Boss’ existing leadership in its “pursuit of their sustainable growth strategy whilst continuing to build brand equity”.

The retailer opted against offering investors any forward-looking financial guidance, citing uncertainty surrounding these ongoing takeover bids.

Alongside its pursuit of rival brands, the company said it is working to “elevate” its existing portfolio of fashion labels, which includes Everlast, Slazenger, Karrimor and Jack Wills.

The fashion giant described its turnaround strategy as “going from strength to strength”, ploughing investment into its high street outlets, including a new flagship Sports Direct store in Liverpool.

However, the company acknowledged it “continued to feel the impact of tough trading conditions, subdued consumer confidence and industry-wide excess inventory levels” at the outset of this financial year.

Frasers’ shares dipped three per cent to 737p when markets opened on Thursday, although the stock remained 10 per cent higher for the year to date.

Tom Foss-Jacobsen
Chief Executive Officer

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Borregaard’s Second Quarter 2026 Presentation. My name is Tom Erik Foss-Jacobsen. I’m the CEO of Borregaard, and I’ll be joined today by our CFO, Per Bjarne Lyngstad. Together, we will take you through this agenda.

I will start with the key highlights for the quarter and then give an update on the market situation across our business segments. I will then summarize the outlook before handing over to Per Bjarne. He will walk you through the financial performance then in more detail.

Before we begin, just a quick reminder to those of you watching the webcast that you are welcome to submit questions at any time during the presentation, and we’ll address them at the end.

Let’s begin with the highlights for the second quarter. EBITDA came in at NOK 515 million compared with NOK 522 million in the same quarter last year. This is a solid result broadly in line with a strong second quarter last year and also supported by good operational performance in the quarter.

Looking at the business areas, BioSolutions delivered higher sales volume, but with a less favorable product mix. BioMaterials had high deliveries and record production, while Fine Chemicals delivered another quarter with solid results.

On the cost side, we continue to see pressure from higher energy, logistics and chemical costs, partly offset by lower wood costs. The net currency effects were slightly positive in the quarter. We have also recognized an impairment of NOK 337 million on our investment in Alginor. The 3 main shareholders in Alginor, Borregaard, Must Invest and Hatteland with Hatteland acting as

Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of Groww, gained 2.3% to Rs 221 on the BSE on Thursday after its consolidated net profit of Rs 735 crore in the first quarter of FY27, marking a 94.44% year-on-year (YoY) surge from Rs 378 crore in the same period last year. The net profit is attributable to the shareholders of the company. With today’s gain, the stock is up 9% in two sessions.

Groww’s revenue from operations also witnessed a sharp uptick, rising 66% to Rs 1,504 crore from Rs 904 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. On a sequential basis, Groww’s revenue remained. Net profit for the quarter grew by 7% to Rs 735 crore from Rs 686 crore last year.

EBITDA for the quarter under review came in at Rs 971 crore, up 101% from Rs 483 crore in the year ago period. Sequentially, the increase was relatively modest, up 3% from Rs 939 crore, Groww’s investor presentation showed.

Groww shares: Buy, sell or hold after Q1 results

JM Financial has upgraded Groww to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’ and raised its target price to Rs 250 (15.5% upside) from Rs 170, citing stronger growth visibility and improving operating leverage. The brokerage said its confidence in the company’s growth outlook has strengthened after Groww delivered a resilient performance despite a moderation in retail trading activity from the Q4FY26 peak.Also read: Groww responds to Nithin Kamath tweet: Direct mutual funds remain free for DIY investors

It also highlighted expanding yields and better operating efficiency, with the cost-to-income ratio declining 3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 36%. Reflecting sustained market share gains and disciplined cost control, JM Financial has raised its FY27, FY28 and FY29 EPS estimates by 4%, 6% and 11%, respectively. It now values Groww at a 50% premium to Angel One, up from 20% earlier, supported by stronger earnings growth, higher margins and significantly larger client assets that improve customer stickiness.
Motilal Oswal reiterated its Buy rating on Groww with a revised target price of Rs 250, implying an upside potential of 16% from the current market price.
Motilal Oswal expects the overall number of orders in the broking business to grow by more than 20% over FY27 and FY28, led by continued market share gains and improving revenue per order. It also believes that the MTF business, Loan Against Securities (LAS) and wealth management will provide an additional boost to the company’s revenue growth.
Motilal raised its earnings estimates by 1% for FY27 and 3% for FY28, factoring in improved operating efficiency. The revised target price of Rs 250 is based on 38x FY28 estimated earnings per share (EPS).

Groww Q1 highlights

The company said it strengthened its market leadership across key segments during the June quarter by adding 115,000 net clients, supported by higher customer retention and improved product quality despite an industry-wide slowdown.

In mutual funds, it retained its position as India’s largest distribution platform for direct mutual funds, with Rs. 1.9 lakh crore in direct mutual fund assets under management (AUM). SIP inflows grew 32% year-on-year, outpacing the industry’s 16% growth.

Read more: Groww says it overtook Angel One in commodities trading within a year of launch

In the stock broking business, the company said risk control measures led to its retail ADTO market share easing sequentially to 15.1%, although it remained 3.3 percentage points higher year-on-year. In commodity derivatives, it expanded its retail market share to 28.6% in notional ADTO across MCX and NSE.

On AI, the company said it believes artificial intelligence will fundamentally transform the way it serves customers and sees itself as best-positioned to lead the adoption of AI in investing.

It is currently using AI to resolve customer queries with zero wait time, address personalised research requests and accelerate product development. The company added that while it plans to make significant investments in AI, it does not expect these investments to have a material impact on its margins given its scale.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

SYDNEY — The S&P/ASX 200 edged lower Thursday afternoon, giving back early gains as a slide in mining stocks offset strength in banking and communication services shares, even as Wall Street’s overnight rally lifted sentiment across the region.

The benchmark index was down 13.0 points, or 0.15%, to 8,828.1 as of 3:02 p.m. AEST, pulling back from a positive open earlier in the session.

The pullback came despite a firmer start to the trading day. Australian shares had opened higher, tracking a solid overnight session on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all advanced on easing inflation signals and a strong start to the U.S. second-quarter earnings season.

By late morning, the ASX 200 had climbed as much as 7.6 points, or 0.09%, to 8,848, with eight of the index’s 11 sectors trading in positive territory. Communication services led the advance, rising roughly 1.3% on gains in REA Group, CAR Group, Seek and News Corp. Financial stocks also contributed to the early strength.

The gains proved short-lived. Mining stocks weighed heavily on the broader market through the session, dragging the materials sector into negative territory even after BHP Group reported record iron ore production for the 2026 financial year. BHP shares fell despite the milestone, part of a broader retreat among miners that accounted for the bulk of the index’s worst-performing stocks. Mining names were the primary drag on the benchmark, offsetting gains elsewhere on the board.

Elsewhere on the local corporate front, AMP shares advanced after the wealth manager lifted its first-half profit guidance, citing favorable investment returns and its partnerships in China. Other notable movers in early trade included Mesoblast, Life360, Tabcorp and Flight Centre.

Investors were also digesting fresh economic data. The Melbourne Institute released its monthly reading on consumer inflation expectations for July, one of several data points traders are using to gauge the outlook for Reserve Bank of Australia policy in the second half of the year. Domestically, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been pressing regulators to adopt a more pro-growth stance in a bid to lift the country’s lagging productivity.

Offshore, the session unfolded against a backdrop of mixed signals from Australia’s largest trading partner. China reported its weakest annual GDP growth since 2022 for the second quarter, a result that has stoked expectations Beijing could roll out fresh stimulus measures. Chinese officials have acknowledged that external risks remain elevated and that demand continues to trail supply in the world’s second-largest economy. The soft growth figure has added a layer of caution to sentiment in Asia-Pacific markets, even as local shares initially shrugged it off.

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to cast a shadow over global markets more broadly. Renewed strikes and a reinstated U.S. naval blockade have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global oil flows, rattling economies across the Gulf region and keeping crude prices elevated. Traffic through the strait has remained sharply depressed compared with pre-conflict levels, with some vessels reportedly switching off transponders to avoid attack. The disruption has also weighed on Chinese refinery activity, with throughput at multiyear lows.

Energy markets have been volatile as a result, and the swings in crude prices have rippled through to mining and resources stocks on the ASX, adding to the sector’s choppy performance this week.

Thursday’s session capped a mixed run for the Australian benchmark. The index closed Wednesday up 0.35% to 0.4% at roughly 8,841 points, its strongest finish in about a week, as banks and miners both contributed to gains following a rally in Rio Tinto after the miner topped its quarterly iron ore sales forecasts. That followed a choppier start to the week, with the index closing essentially flat on both Monday and Tuesday amid escalating Middle East tensions and cautious trading ahead of the Chinese GDP release.

Over the past month, the ASX 200 has been trading in a relatively narrow band, moving between roughly 8,656 and 8,984 points. The index remains a few percentage points below its 52-week high, reflecting a market that has been buffeted by a mix of geopolitical risk, shifting global rate expectations, and a domestic economy still finding its footing.

Among the standout movers in recent sessions, gold miners have swung sharply as investors weigh the conflicting pulls of rising bond yields and safe-haven demand tied to the Middle East conflict. Uranium stocks have also seen sharp declines this week, tracking a broader selloff in global uranium equities, while lithium and rare earths names have been more mixed, with several junior explorers reporting fresh drilling results and resource upgrades.

Looking ahead, traders said they would be watching for U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data later this week, along with any further developments in the Middle East that could affect oil markets and broader risk sentiment. Domestically, attention is turning to labor market data due out next week, which will offer the Reserve Bank of Australia additional information as it weighs its next policy move.

For now, the ASX 200 remains caught between competing forces: a resilient corporate earnings backdrop both locally and in the U.S., against a more uncertain global growth picture out of China and ongoing volatility tied to the conflict in the Middle East.

Trading is expected to remain choppy in the sessions ahead as investors sift through the incoming data for clearer signals on the direction of both the Australian and global economies.

ATLANTA — Argentina advanced to its second consecutive World Cup final Wednesday, scoring two goals in the closing minutes to overcome England 2-1 in a tense, physical semifinal that was scoreless for most of the match.

Enzo Fernández equalized in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martínez headed in the winner in stoppage time to complete the comeback. Lionel Messi assisted on both goals, extending his influence on a tournament in which the 39-year-old continues to be one of the most decisive players on the field.

Argentina will now attempt to become the first team in more than six decades to win back-to-back World Cup titles when it faces Spain in Sunday’s final. Brazil was the last team to repeat as champion, winning in 1958 and 1962 behind Pelé.

The match began cautiously, with both teams more focused on physical contact than offense. Argentina and England did not register a single shot in the first 30 minutes, a stretch of shotless play that had not been seen at a World Cup since 1966, the earliest tournament for which reliable shot statistics exist. By halftime, the two sides had combined for 19 fouls and zero shots on goal.

England broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when Anthony Gordon volleyed home a goal off a long cross from Morgan Rogers, giving the Three Lions a 1-0 lead and their first shot on target of the match. But rather than push for a second goal, England pulled back into a defensive posture, bringing on taller, more defense-oriented substitutes in an apparent effort to protect the lead.

The approach left England with just 36% of possession over the final stretch and allowed Argentina to gradually build momentum. Julián Álvarez, Alexis Mac Allister and Nico González all had chances go begging — including a Mac Allister header that struck the post — before Fernández finally found the equalizer in the 85th minute, curling a left-footed shot from outside the box off a pass from Messi.

Argentina completed the turnaround in stoppage time. After Mac Allister’s shot hit the post, Messi collected the rebound, held possession, and lofted a cross into the box that Martínez headed past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for the winning goal.

England manager Thomas Tuchel defended his team’s approach after the match, saying he had no regrets about the tactical shift following Gordon’s goal.

“In the moment, no regrets,” Tuchel said. “The team gave everything and we were very, very close.” He added that England had “played one of our better matches, maybe our best match,” but that “the team was tough, and we couldn’t bring it over the line.”

Striker Harry Kane, who along with midfielder Jude Bellingham had combined for 12 goals earlier in the tournament, was held without a shot in the semifinal. Speaking afterward, Kane acknowledged the team’s recurring pattern of falling just short in major tournaments.

“We had a lot of good moments in this tournament, a lot of good games, another semifinal,” Kane said. “We talk about knocking on the door. We’re close. We just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.”

He added that the physical and mental toll of a lengthy tournament run was significant: “These tournaments take it out of you so much. Effort and pressure and mentality, and we showed a lot of that throughout the whole six, seven weeks we’ve been together. But yeah, we’re just missing that final piece.”

It marks the second straight World Cup in which England has reached the semifinals only to fall short of the final. England also lost in the semifinals in 2018 and reached the quarterfinals in 2022. The country has not played in a World Cup final since it won the tournament on home soil in 1966.

Wednesday’s match carried an added layer of tension given the history between the two nations, both on and off the pitch. Argentina wore its navy blue alternate kit for the match — the same uniform it wore during its penalty-shootout win over England in the 1998 round of 16 and during the 1986 “Hand of God” quarterfinal. Tuchel noted the significance before the match, telling reporters Tuesday, “I would have done the same if there was any superstition combined with it. So credit to them. I was not aware of that.”

Ahead of the semifinal, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni sought to play down the rivalry narrative when asked about his message to the team. “The message is this is a football game,” Scaloni said. “That’s what I can say. This is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. They have an excellent coach, and this is a football game, and that’s all.”

Argentina’s path to the final has been far from smooth. The team needed extra time to escape a 3-2 scare against Cape Verde in the round of 32, rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Egypt 3-2 in the round of 16, and needed extra time again to beat Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinals after Switzerland’s Breel Embolo was sent off.

Messi, who broke a nine-match World Cup scoring streak in the quarterfinal win over Switzerland, remained the tournament’s most impactful player Wednesday despite not scoring himself. Over his last eight World Cup knockout matches, Messi has now recorded seven goals and six assists.

The championship match Sunday will pit Argentina’s bid for a second consecutive title against Spain, with kickoff details to be finalized in the coming days. For England, the wait to reach another World Cup final continues, with Bellingham — at 23, more than a decade younger than Kane — potentially in position to lead another run at the title when the tournament returns in 2030.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The 2026 World Cup will end the way many imagined it might when the draw was made months ago: with Lionel Messi, soccer’s most decorated player of his generation, standing across the pitch from Lamine Yamal, the teenager many believe will define the next one.

Argentina booked its place in Sunday’s final with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over England on Wednesday, while Spain reached the championship match a day earlier with a 2-0 victory over France, completing what tournament organizers have called a historic semifinal round — the first time in the newly expanded format that all four of FIFA’s top-ranked teams advanced to the final four, and the first time since 1990 that the semifinals featured only past World Cup winners.

For Argentina, the final represents a chance to become the first nation to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. For Spain, it is a return to the sport’s biggest stage for the first time since the team’s 2010 triumph, and a chance to add a second star above its crest.

At the center of it all are two players separated by two decades in age but linked by more than just talent. Yamal, who turned 19 the day before Spain’s semifinal against France, has spent his career being compared to Messi — a comparison that traces back to a photograph of a young Messi holding an infant Yamal at a Barcelona hospital years before either man knew what the image would come to represent.

Yamal has not dominated this tournament statistically. He has scored only once in Spain’s run to the final, a modest output for a player who shared Barcelona’s league scoring lead last season with 16 goals. But his impact Tuesday against France went beyond the box score. In the 22nd minute, Yamal darted toward France defender Lucas Digne as Digne attempted to clear a loose ball inside his own penalty area. Digne’s clearing kick caught Yamal in the thigh, drawing a penalty that Mikel Oyarzabal converted for what proved to be the difference in a 2-0 win.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, asked about Yamal’s quiet scoring tally on the eve of the semifinal, said he believed the teenager’s defining moment was still ahead of him. Afterward, he credited the collective nature of his team’s performance, saying through a translator that the squad interprets “to perfection every play of the game.”

Yamal himself has downplayed the pressure to produce highlight-reel numbers, framing his contribution in team terms. “If we win the World Cup, I think nobody will remember how many goals I scored or how many I didn’t,” Yamal said in translated remarks before the semifinal. “I only give what I have, always at the service of the team, always to the maximum.” He added that Spain’s run to the Euro 2024 title, secured with him scoring just once in that tournament, showed that individual totals mattered less than the outcome: “I think everyone’s obsessed with scoring goals, and we won the European Championship with me scoring a single goal.”

That composure has not always been evident behind the scenes. Spain captain Rodri said before the France match that Yamal had at times played with a nervous energy that undercut his instincts on the wing. “I think he needs to calm down a bit, that anxiety that sometimes he has to prove himself,” Rodri said. “He’s a very important player for us because of what he does with and without the ball, and he’s a very intelligent guy. It’s true that he’s 19 years old and that we have to calm him down at certain moments of the game.” Rodri also praised Yamal’s growth since Spain’s European Championship win two years ago, calling him “a young man who listens, who wants to learn, and above all, sets a real example with his attitude.”

Messi, at 39, remains central to Argentina’s attack in a way few players his age have managed at a World Cup. He did not score in Wednesday’s semifinal against England, but he set up both of his team’s late goals — a cross that led to Enzo Fernández’s equalizer in the 85th minute and a second assist on Lautaro Martínez’s stoppage-time winner. Over Argentina’s last eight World Cup knockout matches dating back to the team’s 2022 title run, Messi has now compiled seven goals and six assists, a stretch of production that has kept him at the heart of Argentina’s biggest moments even as the roster around him has changed.

Sunday’s final will be Messi’s fifth World Cup and, by his own past comments about his career timeline, likely his last chance to add a second title before he steps away from international soccer. It will be Yamal’s first World Cup final, arriving before he turns 20 and with the bulk of his career still ahead of him.

The stylistic contrast between the two finalists adds another layer to the matchup. Argentina has leaned on resilience throughout the knockout rounds, having needed extra time to beat Cape Verde, come from behind to beat Egypt, and grind past Switzerland in the quarterfinals before Wednesday’s late rally against England. Spain, by contrast, arrived at the final unbeaten and untied through the group stage and knockout rounds, controlling matches for long stretches behind a possession-based approach that has become the identity of Spanish soccer over the past two decades.

Both teams will be chasing history regardless of the outcome. A win for Argentina would make it the first repeat champion in more than 60 years. A win for Spain would give the country its second World Cup title and cement Yamal, still a teenager, as a champion on the sport’s largest stage before he turns 20.

Kickoff for Sunday’s final is expected to draw one of the largest global television audiences in World Cup history, with organizers and broadcasters framing the matchup around the Messi-Yamal storyline even as both camps have downplayed any individual rivalry in favor of team success. For now, the two players who have spent years being linked by a single photograph will finally share a final together — on opposite sides.