New Zealand’s Biggest Retailer Records Another Year of Losses

Despite a loss of $2.76 million, The Warehouse Group says the outlook is positive, with things having improved in the second half of the year.

A Warehouse Extra Store seen in Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 29, 2014. Dave Rowland/Getty Images

New Zealand’s largest retail business, The Warehouse Group (TWG), has reported another full-year loss for the year ended Aug. 3.

Despite the loss, it has significantly improved on the previous year’s result and says the outlook is more positive, with the second half of the year having been better than the first.

Founded in 1982, the original Warehouse “red sheds” have become synonymous with cut-price shopping and something of a New Zealand icon.

Its brands now include The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, and appliance retailer Noel Leeming. Its foray into online selling, TheMarket.com—a Kiwi version of Temu—was closed in June last year after performing poorly for about five years.

Calling 2024/25 “a year of reset and progress in an extremely challenging and competitive environment,” the Group admitted to investors that profitability remained below acceptable levels but said it had taken steps to strengthen its ongoing performance, which has led to increased margins in the second half of the year.

Chief Executive Mark Stirton, who was appointed in August, said changes had been made to the group’s organisational structure, pricing, product range, and cost controls.

Chair Joan Withers said economic and retail conditions in New Zealand remained “extremely challenging.”

“Unemployment and inflation remain comparatively high, and consumer confidence is down, putting further pressure on discretionary spending and intensifying retail competition,” she said. “Against that backdrop, The Warehouse Group held its top line, improved sales in the second half, and made meaningful progress on cost control.

“FY 25 has been another very difficult year for the company and while some meaningful progress has been made, there is still much work to do,” she said.

Smaller Loss Than Last Year

Net loss for the year was $2.76 million—a marked improvement on the previous year’s $54.2 million (US$31.6 million). Group sales were up slightly, from $3.04 billion in 2023/24 to $3.09 billion, but underlying profit has slipped from $28.9 million in the previous year to just $1.3 million.

Both Warehouse “red shed” sales and those at Noel Leeming were up, 1.4 percent and 3.3 percent respectively, but they dropped 2.5 percent at Warehouse Stationery stores.

Stirton, who was the group’s chief financial officer before stepping into the CEO role, said solid progress had been made to improve the group’s financial position.

“We are focused on improving financial performance and total shareholder return through better sourcing, category management, disciplined stock management, cost control and capital management, whilst investing only in areas that drive margin and growth over the long-term,” he said.

He said trading for the first seven weeks of the 2026 financial year remained challenging, with sales and gross profit tracking to similar levels as last year.

“Customers are responding well to our new ranges and pricing, with higher conversion and more units sold, especially in home, apparel, toys, and health and beauty. Stronger second half sales show that when we get the offer right, customers respond quickly,” he said.

“Economic conditions remain tough and continue to affect consumer confidence, but we have additional work to do on rebuilding our retail fundamentals within buying and planning, which will be a key focus of FY26.”