Proprietary brands deliver 5% growth in first half

While UP’s sales fell 6% in the first half of FY2026, performance in its proprietary brands was strong, delivering a valuable 5% increase that was offset by a sharp decline in third party clearance sales. Furthermore, despite still challenging trading conditions for consumer durables, the company confirms it is on track to meet full year expectations.

Proprietary brand sales were equivalent to 88% of sales in H126 compared with 79% a year earlier. In our view, today’s announcement is a strong vindication of UP not only prioritising its proprietary brands but also its major management reorganisation last year. 

Following today’s release, we leave our full year forecasts unchanged. Our current FY2026 sales estimate of £138m implies a full year 8% decline and a 10% drop in H2. With owned brand sales becoming even more important and delivering growth, consensus expectations appear on track to being met.

We maintain our 165p/ share Fair Value estimate. At 165p, FY2027 EV/sales would be 1.1x, which is arguably more appropriate given the growth status of UP’s dominant proprietary brands.