River Island swings back to profit with new stores planned

River Island has reportedly returned to the black this week, delivering a pre-tax profit of £11.6 million for 2025, after reporting an operating loss of £65.3 million in the full year of 2024.

Chief Executive Ben Lewis told The Mail on Sunday that he was "very pleased and optimistic" about the results, adding that the company's actions had been creating a "rapid impact" on the business's performance.

Lewis added that River Island would focus on investing in digital sales and was planning to open a number of new stores in the UK and Ireland later this year.

The retailer has been undergoing a restructuring plan since August 2025, when it narrowly avoided entering administration.

The plan saw the closure of 33 UK stores and rents slashed at a further 71 locations over the next three years, with some landlords asked to suspend payments entirely.

The retailer also changed its leadership structure, entering 2025 with a new CFO and the return of Ben Lewis as CEO. Lewis had previously led the business for nearly a decade before stepping down in 2019.

In December 2025, following an acceleration of the turnaround plan, the board highlighted that the retailer was focusing on restoring “profitable and sustainable growth,” driven by improved margins, like-for-like sales growth and a more efficient organisational structure.

This has been shown to have a positive effect, with River Island reaching a number of milestones since the beginning of this year.

Last month, it joined 'Brands at M&S', the retailer's online marketplace, alongside hundreds of others such as Hobbs, Jigsaw, Kurt Geiger, Phase Eight and more.

M&S launched the marketplace in 2021 after the retailer acquired the intellectual property developed by the collapsed fashion marketplace Thread. The venture forms part of M&S’ personalisation strategy.

Lewis told The Mail on Sunday that the retailer has "huge, huge reach" and would remind customers who had lost touch with the brand that "we are doing great designs now".

River Island has also invested in more collaborations, launching an exclusive collection with New York-based heritage sportswear brand PONY in May this year.

Yet the fight for the brand's future is still ongoing, with Lewis adding that rising costs in the retail industry put pressure on the high street and the fashion industry. "You either must manage these costs, or you must get the economy to grow," Lewis told The Mail on Sunday.

River Island's positive turnaround follows the passing of its founder, Bernard Lewis, who is widely regarded as the most influential British fashion retailer of the post-war era. Lewis died peacefully, surrounded by family, on 28 February, 18 days after his 100th birthday. River Island's current CEO, Ben Lewis, is the son of Bernard's older brother, David Lewis.