Our retail businesses play a vital role in their communities, providing fresh, affordable food and making it easier to lead healthy lives. Both Dia and H&B have had strong years, supporting high streets, communities, suppliers and employees every day.
Holland & Barrett
Sustaining growth and building momentum
Holland & Barrett (H&B) delivered a year of strong progress in FY2025, continuing its growth trajectory and demonstrating the impact of sustained, long-term investment.
Supported by L1’s active ownership approach, the business has transitioned from a period of transformation into one of accelerating momentum, with tangible benefits for customers, colleagues and the markets in which it operates.
FY2025 represents the third consecutive year of double-digit growth, with Group revenue reaching £981mn, up 11% year-on-year and more than 35% higher over the past three years.
Growth has been broad-based across markets and channels, underpinned by increasing customer demand and continued progress towards a more integrated omnichannel model.
This performance reflects the progress made over the past two years as H&B has strengthened its core capabilities and positioned the business for its next phase.
Building a platform for long-term growth
H&B’s strategy is centred on becoming a digitally enabled, personalised wellbeing retailer, combining products, services, diagnostics and expert advice into one integrated ecosystem.
Over the past two years, the business has been through a period of significant transformation. This has included modernising its store estate, enhancing digital and data capabilities, strengthening supply chain infrastructure and evolving its science-led product portfolio.
These investments have been deliberate and necessary, creating a strong foundation for scalable growth, improved customer experience and increased operational resilience.
Delivering a stronger customer proposition The benefits of this transformation are now clearly visible across the business. Significant progress has been made in refitting stores across the UK and Ireland, with the ongoing rollout in the Netherlands and Belgium, creating environments that are easier to navigate and better suited to advice-led customer interactions.
New formats, such as the Cardiff experience store, are beginning to demonstrate how retail can play a broader role in supporting preventative health.
At the same time, digital continues to grow in importance, now accounting for over 21% of Group revenue. Investment in user experience, personalisation and content has driven increased engagement and improved conversion, while supporting the integration of online and offline journeys.
Customer numbers have also continued to grow, with over 29mn trackable customers globally, reflecting increasing relevance as consumers seek trusted, science-led wellness solutions.
Together these developments highlight H&B’s evolution from a multi-channel retailer towards a more connected omnichannel model.
Expanding reach through partnerships and international growth
Partnerships remain central to H&B’s growth strategy, enabling the business to extend its reach and enhance its customer proposition.
Collaborations with organisations such as Randox, Well Pharmacy, Co-op, Tesco and Ocado are allowing H&B to access new channels and deliver broader, more integrated wellness solutions. These partnerships combine H&B’s expertise and brand with complementary capabilities to better meet evolving customer needs.
H&B is also continuing to expand internationally, now operating across more than 20 markets through a combination of owned, franchise and wholesale models. This expansion reflects both the scalability of the business and the global demand for accessible, evidence-led wellness.
Investing in capability and operational excellence
FY2025 marked the peak of a multi-year investment cycle, with £124mn invested across stores, supply chain and technology.
This has included major progress in supply chain automation, the retirement of legacy systems and the continued development of in-house technology platforms. These changes are enabling greater agility, improved decision-making and a more efficient operating model.
Encouragingly, the benefits are already beginning to be realised, particularly in the performance of refitted stores and the continued growth of digital channels, providing confidence as the business moves forward into its next phase.
People and purpose at the core
H&B is driven to help people Live Healthier and make trusted health and wellness accessible and personal. This focus shapes its strategy and performance, helping customers live longer, healthier lives.
The business continues to invest in its colleagues, with over 5,000 trained during the year and more than 200,000 hours of learning delivered. This focus on capability and engagement supports a high-quality customer experience and a strong, motivated workforce.
H&B is also delivering meaningful social impact, raising over £750,000 for charitable partners and supporting underserved communities through targeted initiatives. These efforts reinforce its role as a trusted partner in community wellbeing.
A strong platform for the next phase
While the Group remains loss-making at a statutory level, this reflects the scale and deliberate nature of recent investment. As this phase concludes, the focus is shifting towards margin progression, cost discipline and improved cash generation.
With the foundations now largely in place, H&B is preparing to move into its next phase, supported by a more modern operating model and stronger underlying capabilities.
A compelling example of active ownership
H&B’s progress highlights the role of L1 as a long-term, active investor.
Through sustained investment, strategic support and a focus on capability building, L1 has helped transform H&B into a stronger, more scalable and more resilient business. This approach has enabled the company to invest ahead of growth, modernise its operations and strengthen its market position.
As demand for preventative health and personalised wellness continues to grow globally, H&B is well positioned to deliver both commercial performance and meaningful social impact, demonstrating the value of responsible, growth-oriented investment in building businesses for long-term success.
H&B delivered a year of strong progress in FY2025, continuing its growth trajectory and demonstrating the impact of sustained, long-term investment.
Dia
Building a stronger, more profitable proximity retail platform
2025 was a turning point for Grupo Dia (Dia). Driven by its purpose to be “By your side” (A tu lado), and the first year of execution of the company’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, “Growing Every Day”, Dia delivered ahead of expectations, confirming its transition into a new phase of growth, profitability and long-term value creation.
The progress achieved during the year reflects the strength of Dia’s customer-centric strategy and the relevance of its proximity model. Dia’s ambition is clear: to be the favourite supermarket in every neighbourhood and online. Its competitive advantage comes from being close to customers — physically, through the largest neighbourhood store network in Spain, and commercially, through a value proposition built around convenience, quality, price and trust.
This model is increasingly resonating with customers, franchisees, suppliers, employees and investors. In 2025, Dia continued to reinforce its core proposition: a balanced range combining high-quality Dia own-brand products with leading national and international brands, a stronger fresh food offer supported by local suppliers, and a more personalised customer experience through Club Dia. The company also continued to develop a simple, reliable omnichannel platform designed to meet the needs of increasingly demanding customers.
A strategy delivering results
The results of this strategy were most visible in Spain, which is now the group’s primary engine of growth and profitability. Dia Spain delivered annual sales growth of 8.6%, reaching €5.6bn, driven by 7.4% like-for-like growth and a further 1.2% contribution from network expansion. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 18% year-on-year to €313mn, while the adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 0.6% to 6.8%, one of the strongest levels in the Spanish food retail sector. Dia Spain generated net profit of €166mn, almost three times the prior year level, including €52mn from the activation of tax credits in the second half of the year.
This improvement in profitability was supported by scale benefits, continued growth in Dia’s highly scalable franchise model, modernisation of the logistics network and progress on energy efficiency and decarbonisation. Franchise stores now represent 67% of Dia Spain’s network. During the year, the company opened 94 local supermarkets and inaugurated a new logistics centre in Seville. Its energy efficiency and decarbonisation programme now covers 24% of the store network and 68% of logistics platforms.
Strong operating performance translated into improved cash generation. Dia Spain generated €301mn of operating cash flow, fully covering €161mn of investment and €61mn of financial payments. Net debt was reduced by €79mn, leaving leverage at only 0.8x adjusted EBITDA.
Dia Spain materially exceeded the objectives set for the first year of the Strategic Plan and is now preparing to accelerate its expansion roadmap ahead of schedule in 2026.
In Argentina, Dia demonstrated resilience in a highly challenging macroeconomic environment marked by a sharp contraction in domestic consumption and a significant depreciation of the Argentine peso. Annual sales declined by 15% to €1.5bn, impacted by lower like-for-like sales volumes and currency depreciation. However, the quarterly trend showed clear stabilisation in the second half of the year, with Dia Argentina gaining 0.3% of market share in like-for-like sales volume.
Strict cost control and financial discipline enabled the business to close the year with positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. In the second half of the year, Dia Argentina achieved an adjusted EBITDA margin of 1.3%, and the business ended 2025 with positive free cash flow of €3.1mn and a solid net cash position of €61mn. Its leading position in Buenos Aires, optimised cost structure and disciplined financial management provide a strong foundation from which to benefit from a gradual recovery in consumption as the macroeconomic environment normalises.
At group level, Grupo Dia closed 2025 with sales of €7.1bn, up 2.5% year-on-year, adjusted EBITDA of €316mn, up 8% on a continuing operations basis, and net profit of €129mn. After a long transformation process, Dia has returned to profitability with a healthier balance sheet, a clearer strategic direction and stronger prospects for sustainable value creation.
The market has recognised this progress. Dia’s share price appreciated by approximately 140% during 2025, taking the company’s market capitalisation above €2.1bn. While this performance reflects growing investor confidence, the company remains focused on the considerable opportunity still ahead: strengthening its leadership in proximity retail, accelerating profitable growth and continuing to build a business that matters to customers and shareholders.
Strengthening governance and sustainability
Governance also remained an important priority. In June 2025, Dia renewed its governance structure, strengthening the Board of Directors with an emphasis on independence, diversity and the critical skills required to support delivery of the Strategic Plan. Board remuneration was also adjusted to align more closely with shareholder interests. Dia views strong, independent governance as a valuable asset and an important enabler of long-term performance.
Sustainability has been further embedded into the company’s strategy. In December 2025, Dia approved its 2026–2029 Strategic Sustainability Plan, aligning sustainability objectives and responsibilities with the broader 2025–2029 Strategic Plan. This reinforces Dia’s ambition to deliver responsible, sustainable growth while contributing positively to the social and economic development of the communities in which it operates.
The significant progress achieved in 2025 is the result of the commitment and contribution of Dia’s teams, franchisees and suppliers. Together, they have helped take the company to a new level in terms of business model, customer experience, operational discipline and community impact.
Dia enters 2026 with confidence and ambition. Its business model is aligned with what customers want; its strategic priorities are clear; its management team is executing with discipline; and its Board is stronger and more independent. With a profitable business, a healthier balance sheet and a winning proximity strategy, Dia is well positioned to continue outperforming the market and creating sustainable long-term value.
