Argos posted a pre-tax loss of £223.2 million in its last financial year after cutting more than 2,000 jobs and suffering a fall in sales in a difficult general goods market.
The retailer, which has been owned by Sainsbury’s since 2016, saw its performance fall sharply from profits of £37.3 million the previous year. Newly filed accounts for the 12 months to March 1, 2025 show sales fell to £4.13 billion from £4.22 billion, reflecting weaker demand in key categories.
Headcount fell from 12,000 to 9,800 as Argos presses ahead with restructuring efforts aimed at simplifying its operating model and cutting costs.
The company said sales were hit by a “subdued and highly competitive general merchandise market,” noting that online traffic fell significantly in the first half of the year. A “cooler and wetter summer” also dampened seasonal demand and resulted in sales falling short of expectations.
Despite the weak start, Argos reported improved trading in the second half of the year as online visits recovered. Supported by extensive promotional activity, the retailer returned to year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter.
Argos posted an underlying pre-tax loss of £73 million, driven by lower margins as advertising sales rose sharply in what it described as “difficult” trading conditions.
In a statement signed by the board, Argos said it was focused on shopping more frequently and encouraging larger basket sizes:
“After a slow start to the financial year and in what remains a highly competitive general merchandise market, our focus is on encouraging customers to shop with us more often and with larger basket sizes. We are driving changes across our digital and commercial offering and have made good progress in strengthening the Argos offering.”
The update comes shortly after Sainsbury’s confirmed it had begun discussions about a possible sale of Argos to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com – only to abruptly end talks a day later. JD.com, China’s largest retailer with more than 600 million active customers, had been exploring expanding into European omnichannel retail but no deal was reached.
