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U.K. (FTSE) Retail Distributors Industry Analysis

UpdatedJan 15, 2026
DataAggregated Company Financials
Companies7
  • 7D2.4%
  • 3M11.1%
  • 1Y2.1%
  • YTD2.3%

Over the last 7 days, the Retail Distributors industry has risen 2.4%, driven by gains from Inchcape of 3.4%. Meanwhile, Smiths News actually underperformed within the industry, shrinking 11% in the last week. Despite this gain, the industry's performance has been flat over the past year. Earnings are forecast to grow by 6.1% annually.

Industry Valuation and Performance

Has the U.K. Retail Distributors Industry valuation changed over the past few years?

DateMarket CapRevenueEarningsPEAbsolute PEPS
Thu, 15 Jan 2026UK£3.4bUK£11.1bUK£302.2m7.9x11.1x0.3x
Sat, 13 Dec 2025UK£3.2bUK£11.1bUK£302.2m8.7x10.7x0.3x
Mon, 10 Nov 2025UK£3.3bUK£11.0bUK£303.9m9.2x10.7x0.3x
Wed, 08 Oct 2025UK£3.0bUK£10.0bUK£276.8m8.9x10.7x0.3x
Fri, 05 Sep 2025UK£2.8bUK£10.0bUK£287.3m9.1x9.9x0.3x
Sun, 03 Aug 2025UK£2.9bUK£10.0bUK£287.3m9.2x10.3x0.3x
Tue, 01 Jul 2025UK£3.1bUK£10.4bUK£277.7m10x11.2x0.3x
Thu, 29 May 2025UK£3.0bUK£10.4bUK£277.7m9.3x10.7x0.3x
Sat, 26 Apr 2025UK£2.9bUK£10.4bUK£277.9m8.5x10.3x0.3x
Mon, 24 Mar 2025UK£3.2bUK£10.4bUK£281.4m8.8x11.3x0.3x
Wed, 19 Feb 2025UK£3.1bUK£12.8bUK£302.2m8.9x10.2x0.2x
Fri, 17 Jan 2025UK£3.4bUK£12.8bUK£302.2m9.5x11.4x0.3x
Sun, 15 Dec 2024UK£3.6bUK£12.8bUK£301.8m10.3x11.8x0.3x
Tue, 12 Nov 2024UK£3.4bUK£12.7bUK£300.3m10.4x11.5x0.3x
Thu, 10 Oct 2024UK£3.5bUK£12.8bUK£297.0m10.3x11.9x0.3x
Sat, 07 Sep 2024UK£3.9bUK£12.8bUK£316.7m12.2x12.3x0.3x
Mon, 05 Aug 2024UK£4.0bUK£12.8bUK£316.7m12.3x12.5x0.3x
Wed, 03 Jul 2024UK£3.6bUK£12.6bUK£303.2m11.4x11.7x0.3x
Fri, 31 May 2024UK£3.8bUK£12.6bUK£303.2m12.5x12.6x0.3x
Sun, 28 Apr 2024UK£3.8bUK£12.6bUK£301.0m12.3x12.5x0.3x
Tue, 26 Mar 2024UK£3.3bUK£12.6bUK£301.2m10.4x11.1x0.3x
Thu, 22 Feb 2024UK£3.2bUK£11.1bUK£273.2m9.2x11.8x0.3x
Sat, 20 Jan 2024UK£3.2bUK£11.1bUK£273.2m9.5x11.7x0.3x
Mon, 18 Dec 2023UK£3.3bUK£11.1bUK£273.2m9.7x12.2x0.3x
Wed, 15 Nov 2023UK£3.2bUK£11.0bUK£267.2m9.5x12x0.3x
Fri, 13 Oct 2023UK£3.4bUK£11.0bUK£264.5m9.5x12.8x0.3x
Sun, 10 Sep 2023UK£3.6bUK£11.0bUK£265.1m10x13.7x0.3x
Tue, 08 Aug 2023UK£3.7bUK£11.0bUK£278.7m10.3x13.3x0.3x
Thu, 06 Jul 2023UK£3.7bUK£9.3bUK£283.8m10.3x13.2x0.4x
Sat, 03 Jun 2023UK£3.7bUK£9.2bUK£282.0m10.2x13.2x0.4x
Mon, 01 May 2023UK£3.9bUK£9.2bUK£282.5m10.9x13.7x0.4x
Wed, 29 Mar 2023UK£3.4bUK£9.2bUK£282.9m10.3x12.1x0.4x
Fri, 24 Feb 2023UK£4.4bUK£9.0bUK£301.7m10.8x14.5x0.5x
Sun, 22 Jan 2023UK£4.4bUK£9.0bUK£301.3m12.2x14.7x0.5x
Price to Earnings Ratio

14.7x


Total Market Cap: UK£4.4bTotal Earnings: UK£301.3mTotal Revenue: UK£9.0bTotal Market Cap vs Earnings and Revenue0%0%0%
U.K. Retail Distributors Industry Price to Earnings3Y Average 11.9x202420252026
Current Industry PE
  • Investors are relatively neutral on the British Retail Distributors industry at the moment, indicating that they anticipate long term growth rates to remain steady.
  • The industry is trading close to its 3-year average PE ratio of 11.9x.
  • The industry is trading close to its 3-year average PS ratio of 0.32x.
Past Earnings Growth
  • The earnings for companies in the Retail Distributors industry have remained mostly flat over the last three years.
  • Meanwhile revenues for these companies have grown 7.1% per year.
  • This means that although more sales are being generated, either the cost of doing business or the level of investment back into businesses has increased and as a result, profits have held steady.

Industry Trends

Which industries have driven the changes within the U.K. Consumer Discretionary industry?

GB Market1.35%
Consumer Discretionary-1.36%
Retail Distributors2.37%
Distributors2.37%
Industry PEThere are no additional sub-industries under this industry.
Forecasted GrowthThere are no additional sub-industries under this industry.

Top Stock Gainers and Losers

Which companies have driven the market over the last 7 days?

CompanyLast Price7D1YValuation
INCH InchcapeUK£7.963.4%
+UK£93.6m		7.2%PE10.2x
LIKE Likewise GroupUK£0.2513.6%
+UK£7.5m		26.3%PE47x

Latest News

INCH
UK£7.96
Inchcape
7D
3.4%
1Y
7.2%
ULTP
UK£0.54
Ultimate Products
7D
-1.5%
1Y
-48.5%

ULTP: AIM Move And Dividend Stream Will Support Future Share Price

Analysts have kept their price target for Ultimate Products unchanged at £1.65, citing only modest tweaks to assumptions such as a slightly higher discount rate, a small adjustment to revenue growth expectations, and a marginally different future P/E multiple rather than any major shift in their view of the company. What's in the News Ultimate Products plans to move its listing from the London Stock Exchange Main Market to AIM, with the last day of dealings on the Main Market expected to be 14 January 2026 and AIM admission targeted for 8.00 a.m. on 15 January 2026 (company announcement).
SNWS
UK£0.69
Smiths News
7D
-10.9%
1Y
15.1%
SUP
UK£1.46
Supreme
7D
-0.7%
1Y
-17.3%
LIKE
UK£0.25
Likewise Group
7D
13.6%
1Y
26.3%
HEAD
UK£0.45
Headlam Group
7D
-3.9%
1Y
-68.0%