ME Group shares plunge 26% as lower sales view on soft French trading

(Alliance News) - ME Group International PLC on Monday said it is taking a "more cautious" view of the full-year outlook amid softer trading, particularly in its France photobooth and laundry businesses.

The Epsom, England-based service equipment provider attributed the softening in revenue to a shift in consumer spending patterns driven by lower consumer confidence due to the Middle East war.

In response, shares in the FTSE 250-listing plummeted 26% to 109.50 pence each in London on Monday.

Group revenue grew 2% in the six months to April. But the photobooth business was impacted by reduced demand for official photo ID amid ongoing travel uncertainty, with Photo.ME revenue down 17% in April compared with a decline of 6% in the year prior.

Wash.ME, the group's higher-margin business, was also impacted in April by a decline in consumer spending, with revenue in April up only 3% compared with an increase of 17% the year before.

Revenue from the sale of equipment in the first half of financial 2026 was down 14% compared with the same period last year, reflecting a focus on operating instant-service equipment.

"While there has been an improvement in trading through May, the board does not expect trading patterns to normalise while conflict in the Middle East and the subsequent uncertainty in the macroeconomic landscape continue."

As a result, ME Group now expects full-year 2026 pretax profit to be in the range of GBP69 million to GBP74 million compared to GBP78.2 million in the financial year to October 2025.

ME Group's broker Peel Hunt lowered its pretax profit forecast to GBP70.0 million for financial 2026 from GBP80.0 million before. For the following financial year, the broker projects pretax profit of GBP80.0 million, down from GBP88.0 million previously.

ME highlighted its strong balance sheet, and said it remains confident in its long-term growth plans. The laundry expansion programme to install more than 1,300 Wash.ME laundry machines in financial 2026 remains on track, it added.

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

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