The Works shares spark as Kelso lifts stake, says company is undervalued

(Sharecast News) - The Works shares shot higher on Monday after activist investor Kelso said it has increased its stake in the "undervalued" retailer to 7% from 6.6%.

Kelso said in a statement that it now holds just over 4.37m shares, bought at an average price of 33.2p.

It noted that as at 20 February, the company had a market capitalisation of around �22.6m.

"Kelso believes that The Works is one of the most undervalued companies on the UK stock market," it said.

It pointed out that through its portfolio of 500 stores, the company generated revenue of �277m in the year to April 2025, with EBITDA pre-IFRS 16 of �9.5m, a 58% year-on-year increase. For the year to April 2026, EBITDA is expected to grow by a further 15% to �11.0m, in line with company guidance.

At the April 2025 year end, The Works reported net cash of �4.1m, Kelso said, and market expectations are that it will increase to at least �5m by the end of the current financial year, following significant investment in its store roll-out programme.

"Despite this continued improvement in performance, driven by strong operational management, The Works is currently trading on an EV/EBITDA multiple of just 1.65x and a revenue multiple of 0.05x, based on the April 2026 forecast net cash position and current-year EBITDA guidance," the small cap activist investor said.

"Kelso has written to the board of The Works this morning outlining several constructive proposals aimed at closing this clear valuation gap."

At 1010 GMT, the shares were up 7.2% at 38.70p.