The existing stores are performing. That's not a store-count story.
Fourlis Holdings, the Greek retail group behind INTERSPORT and Foot Locker franchises in southeastern Europe, closed out its 2025 earnings call with a headline that most companies in the region would envy: sales up 12% across the business, with the sporting goods segment outpacing even that.
The numbers behind that top-line figure tell a more granular story. INTERSPORT, the company's dominant sporting goods banner, grew roughly 11.5% to reach close to 202 million euros. Foot Locker contributed around 19.2 million euros on top of that, pushing the combined sporting goods segment to overall growth of 22%. Strip out new store openings and look only at existing locations, and INTERSPORT's like-for-like growth still came in near 9% — a figure that suggests the performance wasn't simply a product of expansion.
That expansion, though, is very much part of the strategy. Fourlis has been building out its network even as it navigates a macroeconomic environment that has made many retailers cautious. The company is also deepening its presence in pharmacy retail through its Doctor Pharmacy chain, which is now being positioned as a distribution vehicle for Holland & Barrett, the British health and wellness brand. The plan, as management described it, is to bring Holland & Barrett into every Doctor Pharmacy location — an aggressive rollout that management says will be central to the pharmacy network's growth.
Not everything in the report was clean. The company acknowledged a meaningful inventory buildup that weighed on operating cash flow during the period. Two factors drove it: the aftermath of a cyber incident that prompted the company to stockpile goods as a supply chain buffer, and preparations for a systems change at Nike, a key supplier, which required Fourlis to get ahead of potential disruptions. Management said it intends to work down slow-moving stock and normalize inventory levels before the year is out.
The bigger strategic picture involves a multi-year transformation that management has been telegraphing for some time. The company is investing in new systems and processes that it expects to begin generating meaningful productivity gains by mid-2027. The current year, 2026, is described internally as a transitional one — a period of absorbing costs before the benefits arrive. The target is to recover between half a percentage point and a full percentage point of EBITDA margin each year, with the company aiming to approach its profitability targets somewhere in the 2028-to-2029 window.
Management declined to offer specific guidance for 2026, citing the volatility of the current macroeconomic environment. What they did offer was a data point: sales in the early weeks of 2026 are running 13% ahead of the same period last year. Whether that pace holds through a year that the company itself has labeled transitional remains to be seen.
For investors watching Fourlis, the near-term question is how well the company manages the gap between its current investment cycle and the productivity payoff it is promising. The Holland & Barrett partnership, the inventory normalization, and the systems buildout are all moving parts that will need to land more or less on schedule for the 2028-2029 targets to remain credible. The strong start to the year buys some goodwill, but the real test comes when the transitional costs of 2026 show up in the numbers.
Notable Quotes
While 2026 is a transitional year, the company aims to recover 0.5% to 1% per year in EBITDA, reaching close to its target by 2028 to 2029.— Fourlis Holdings management, 2025 earnings call
The start of the year has been strong, with sales up 13% year-to-date, though specific guidance was withheld due to market volatility.— Fourlis Holdings management, 2025 earnings call
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
A 12% sales increase sounds solid, but is this a company that's genuinely growing or one that's papering over problems with expansion?
Both things can be true at once. The like-for-like growth at INTERSPORT — nearly 9% — tells you the existing stores are performing. That's not a store-count story.
Then what's the concern?
The inventory buildup. When cash flow doesn't track revenue growth, it usually means something is being deferred. Here it was partly deliberate — hedging against supply chain risk — but it still has to be unwound.
The cyber incident is interesting. How much damage did that actually do?
The company didn't quantify it directly, but the fact that it changed their inventory behavior months later suggests it was disruptive enough to alter how they think about supply security.
What's the Holland & Barrett play? That feels like an odd pairing with sporting goods.
It's a separate business line — Doctor Pharmacy. Fourlis is using that network as a retail vehicle for health and wellness products. Holland & Barrett gives it a recognizable brand to anchor the offer.
And the 2028-2029 profitability target — is that a real commitment or a way of pushing accountability into the future?
It's a real target with a real mechanism: systems investments that are supposed to generate margin recovery of half to one percent per year. But 2026 is explicitly a year where costs come before benefits.
So the honest read is: strong sales, messy middle, and a promise that the math works out in three years?
That's about right. The 13% sales growth in early 2026 is the company's way of saying the top line isn't the problem. The question is whether the bottom line follows.