Anthony Thunström kissed R6.7 billion goodbye in one day

The TFG (The Foschini Group) share price plummeted 16.64% on Tuesday, reducing the company’s market cap by R6.7 billion.

The share price decline followed the fashion retailer’s trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2025.

Over the reporting period, group sales grew by 12.7% to R29.2 billion. This included revenue from the recently acquired UK retailer White Stuff.

However, when the impact of White Stuff is removed, sales only rose by a more subdued 3.5% over the last six months.

TFG further informed the market that it expects its basic earnings per share to decrease by between 20% and 25%.

TFG explained that its acquisition of White Stuff resulted in finance costs doubling to £4 million (around R92.74 million).

TFG’s Australia segment also recorded a tough half-year, with sales down 0.5%. The company said this was due to subdued discretionary spend.

In addition, due to expenses growing ahead of sales, driven by costs from new stores and continued inflationary pressure, this segment’s EBIT declined by 18.4%.

The only true positive in the results was online sales, powered by Bash, which performed well over the period.

Group online sales grew by 55.3% in the six-month period, including White Stuff, and now contribute 14.7% to total retail sales. TFG Africa online sales grew by 40.2%.

Bash, under the leadership of e-commerce veterans Claude Hanan and Luke Jedeikin, brought all TFG brands together in a single platform.

It is widely seen as a game-changer for the company, reaching over eight million downloads within three years of its launch.

The company attributed much of its success to forward thinking and spotting the opportunity to launch an e-commerce platform at the right time.

Analyst opinion about TFG

Shane Watkins, Chief Investment Officer at All Weather Capital, explained that the reason for the sharp share price decline was not a poor trading statement.

Instead, it was ‘unexpectedly bad, considering what TFG, and its CEO, Anthony Thunström, told the market three months ago.

The TFG management team has recently engaged with large groups of institutional investors at their capital markets day and at a global bank’s conference.

“During these engagements, the TFG management team did not communicate the extent of the bad results they announced in their trading statement,” he said.

This means the market was surprised by the TFG trading update for the six months ending 30 September 2025.

This caused many investors to dump the stock, which caused the TFG’s share price to decline by 16.64% on Tuesday, 21 October 2025.

Watkins explained that TFG has grown largely through acquisitions over the last decade. However, these acquisitions did not strengthen the bottom line.

The TFG management team has, through the acquisitions, grown sales growth but not earnings growth.

“Despite growing revenue enormously, there has not been earnings growth,” Watkins told Business Day TV’s Stock Watch.

The result is that the TFG share price is the same as it was ten years ago, making it a poor investment.

The latest results, with fairly strong revenue growth but a big decline in earnings, continued the trend over the last ten years.

“This trend alarmed investors and made people question whether TFG’s acquisitive strategy is working,” he said.