VS Series
TK Maxx v Matalan
Bargain rails, out-of-town sheds: who makes value pay?
TK Maxx leads on all five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. TK Maxx is the biggest by turnover at £4,354m, against £987m at Matalan. TK Maxx keeps more of every £100 it takes, £5.45 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: TK Maxx to Jan 2026 · Matalan to Feb 2026
Who they are
TK Maxx
TJX UK · 03094828TJX UK is the UK company of The TJX Companies, the US group listed in New York, and runs TK Maxx and Homesense shops and the TK Maxx website in the UK.In brief: off-price retailer · runs TK Maxx and Homesense in the UK · brands for less than full price · owned by US-listed TJXFull profile →Matalan
Matalan Retail Ltd. · 02103564Matalan is a value retailer selling women's, men's and children's clothing and homeware, from bedding and towels to kitchenware and furniture, with everything under one roof.In brief: value fashion and homeware retailer · more than 270 shops plus online · franchise shops abroad · trading since 1985Full profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
How they differ
How do TK Maxx and Matalan make their money differently?
TK Maxx sells other companies' brands for less: its UK company buys branded and designer stock opportunistically and prices it 20% to 60% below full-price shops, and nearly a third of its turnover is stock it passes on to TJX's other European businesses. Matalan sells its own-label clothing and homeware, mostly from out-of-town shops, and its profit is shaped by debt: a group of bondholders took the Matalan group over in 2023, and the trading company is charged £45.0m of interest on the group's loan notes, on top of £38.3m of interest on its leases. TJX UK's year ran to January 2026, Matalan's 53-week year to February 2026.
This panel reads: TK Maxx, TJX UK (TK Maxx and Homesense), 52 weeks to January 2026; Matalan, Matalan Retail Ltd., 53 weeks to February 2026. The numbers above use each company's latest figures on Spark Intel, which can be a different year.
What they sell
20% to 60%below full-price shops' regular prices
Branded and designer clothing, shoes and homeware, bought opportunistically and sold in TK Maxx and Homesense shops and on TKMaxx.com.
“The Company's flexible off-price business model, including opportunistic buying, inventory management, logistics and store layouts, is designed to deliver customers a compelling value proposition”
Over 80%of group revenue from its UK shops
Mainly its own-label clothing and homeware, from out-of-town shops and online, plus franchise shops abroad run by partners.
“over 80% of total group revenue is delivered by Matalan's UK store estate”
Where the sales come from
29%of turnover from wholesale to TJX companies
TK Maxx shops and website £2,794m, Homesense £287m. The rest is stock supplied wholesale to TJX's other European companies.
“The Company also supplies wholesale goods to fellow Group undertakings.”
5%growth in online demand
£968m in the UK and £19m abroad, mostly to franchise partners. Without the extra week, revenue slipped; online demand grew after two years of decline.
“during FY26 we returned our online business into growth, delivering a 5% growth in online demand in the year”
What the shops earn
20.8%gross margin after shop and distribution costs
429 shops at the year end, up 1. Shops trading for over a year sold 4.1% more, mostly from more visitors. Cost of sales includes running the shops.
“The current year increase in comparable store sales can largely be attributed to an increase in footfall.”
12.6%gross margin after selling and distribution costs
222 shops. It cut the cost of its goods by £27m on similar sales; 30 refreshed shops sold 11% more than the rest of the estate.
“This was delivered through significant savings made in the bought-in price of goods sold and a marked focus on profitability.”
Who stands behind them
£750mundrawn credit line from its US parent
Wholly owned by the US-listed TJX Companies. It lends to other group companies, £171m at the year end, and has not drawn its parent's credit line.
“The Company has an uncommitted revolving credit facility up to the value of £750m with the Ultimate Parent Company, against which no funds have been drawn.”
£45.0mof group loan-note interest recharged to it
Owned since 2023 by a group of its bondholders. The trading company pays the interest on £381m of group loan notes, now due in 2029, and £38m on its leases.
“There are no performance related covenants linked to any of the Group's debt instruments.”
Not disclosed
Online sales on their own, and profit for TK Maxx, Homesense or the wholesale business separately.
Online sales in pounds, like-for-like shop sales, and profit split between shops and online.
Pages quoted: TK Maxx pp. 2, 24, 28, 32, 38, 43, 44; Matalan pp. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 14, 29, 38, 45, 46, 65, 66.
TJX UK's year is 52 weeks to 31 January 2026; Matalan's is 53 weeks to 28 February 2026, and the extra week added £15.6m of revenue (Matalan p. 3). TJX UK reports under FRS 102, with rent as a running cost; Matalan under IFRS, where most rent shows as depreciation and lease interest, so the two gross margins are not on exactly the same basis. TJX UK's turnover includes £1,273m of wholesale stock supplied to other TJX companies. Matalan's loan-note total is the Matalan group's, not the trading company's own borrowing. Percentages are our arithmetic from the pages cited.
Sources: TJX UK, Annual report 2026; Matalan Retail Limited, Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026. Page numbers are the documents' own.
The Takeaway
- TK Maxx converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £5.45 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £3.68 at Matalan.
- TK Maxx is the largest on the top line, £4,354m of turnover, 4.4x Matalan's £987m.
- TK Maxx is growing fastest, turnover +4.7% on its own prior year.
- TK Maxx is the biggest employer with 25,389 people; TK Maxx pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £30,000.
- TK Maxx has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £909m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
TK Maxx keeps the most: £5.45 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Matalan does worst, losing £3.68.
Financing bites hardest at Matalan: £8.48 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is TK Maxx (£4,354m), Matalan (£987m).
By headcount, TK Maxx leads with 25,389 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 1 month of each other. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
TK Maxx grew fastest, turnover +4.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Matalan (+0.2%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
TK Maxx employs the most, 25,389 people, against 9,593 at Matalan.
TK Maxx has the highest average staff cost, about £30,000 a head; Matalan the lowest, about £20,000.
TK Maxx brings in the most turnover per employee, about £172,000, against £103,000 at Matalan. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | TK Maxx | Matalan |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | TJX UK | MATALAN RETAIL LTD. |
| Company number | 03094828 | 02103564 |
| Incorporated | 1995 | 1987 |
| Accounts filed | 15 October 2026 | 10 August 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £4,159m | £985m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £118m | -£45m |
| Staff costs | £754m | £189m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 17.3% | 19.1% |
| Employees, prior year | 25,463 | 10,277 |
| Dividends paid | £54m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 2 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
TK Maxx v Matalan: common questions
How do TK Maxx and Matalan make their money differently?
TK Maxx and Matalan are both value retailers, but they work differently. TJX UK, which runs TK Maxx and Homesense in the UK, sells branded and designer goods bought opportunistically at prices it says are generally 20% to 60% below full-price shops. In the year to January 2026 its shops and website took £3,081m, and it supplied a further £1,273m of stock wholesale to TJX's other European companies. Its 419 established shops grew sales 4.1%, mostly on more visitors, and its gross profit after shop and distribution costs was 20.8% of turnover. It is wholly owned by the US-listed TJX Companies, which gives it an undrawn £750m credit line. Matalan sells its own-label clothing and homeware, mostly from out-of-town shops, which bring in over 80% of group revenue. In its 53 weeks to February 2026 it cut the cost of its goods from £475m to £449m on similar sales, and its gross profit after selling and distribution rose to 12.6% of revenue. Its group has been owned by a group of its bondholders since 2023; the trading company pays £45.0m of interest on the group's loan notes and £38.3m on its leases.
Who is the biggest of TK Maxx or Matalan?
TK Maxx, with turnover of £4,354m in the year to January 2026.
Which makes the most profit?
TK Maxx: £237m pre-tax in the year to January 2026.
Which employs the most people?
TK Maxx, with 25,389 employees in its latest accounts.
TK Maxx or Matalan: which is bigger?
TK Maxx, with turnover of £4,354m against £987m at Matalan on their latest filings. On margin, TK Maxx keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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