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RNS Number : 0775O CMO Group PLC 29 September 2023
CMO Group PLC
Interim Results for the period ended 30 June 2023
Progress on key strategic priorities and Improvement in trading
CMO Group PLC ("CMO" or the "Group"), the UK's largest online-only retailer of
building materials, today announces its interim results for the half year to
30 June 2023.
H2 summary
Over the past six months, in line with its strategic priorities, CMO has
delivered improvement in product margins, carriage costs and overhead
efficiencies, and has thus adapted well to less favourable market conditions.
We are pleased to report an improving sales trend in the SUPERSTORES, but the
online TILES market remains extremely challenging with YTD volumes having
experienced a c. 33% decline (source: GFK).
The Group's trading position is improving on a like-for-like basis with the
SUPERSTORES growing market share in Q2, a position which appears to be further
improving as we move into Q3.
Strategic highlights
We are pleased to report success in the delivery of our previously documented
key strategic priorities:
· Improvement in product margins*: Gross product margins excluding
carriage have moved upwards in the first six months and improved by 1.9
percentage points compared to full-year 2022.
· Carriage Cost Control: Carriage margin loss has decreased from 67% H1
2022 to 29% H1 2023, an improvement of 56%.
· Overhead Efficiency: Overheads have reduced 18% in accordance with
plan, including the headcount reductions announced for the first quarter.
· Brand Consolidation: JTM has been migrated into PLUMBING SUPERSTORE
and the integration of TOTAL TILES into TILE SUPERSTORE is progressing.
*Excludes carriage
Financial highlights H1
· Total sales of £36.9m (2022: £41.9m), 57% up on a four-year view.
· Adjusted EBITDA** was £0.6m (2022: £1.3m).
· Operating Loss of (£0.5m) (2022: profit £0.5m).
· Basic earnings per share of (0.87p) (2022: 0.33p).
· Net cash at the end of the period of £1.0m.
**Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation,
amortisation, share option expense, acquisition costs and exceptional items
and stated on an IFRS basis.
Operational KPIs H1
· Cost of digital marketing in line with expectations at 6%.
· Customer acquisition remains balanced at 24% paid to 76% non-paid
channels.
· Revenue per session up 16% YTD.
· Repeat customers up 20% YoY.
· Marketable database has grown 14% YoY.
Current trading and outlook
The Group has delivered positive performance during H1 against its strategic
key priorities aimed at driving profitable sales growth for the future.
Like-for-likes indicate that we are now outperforming the market with a more
encouraging trend in the SUPERSTORES. We expect this improving sales trend
to continue into Q4. However, we are not immune to market conditions.
Volumes in the building materials market are down by 14% in the first 7 months
of this year (Source: GFK) and forecasts for 2023 from the Construction
Products Association, published in July, report a reduction of 19% in newbuild
housing and 11% in private housing.
Since our last market update, consumer confidence has continued to erode with
increasing interest rates and persistent high levels of inflation. This has
meant that whilst we are seeing an improving sales trend the rate of
improvement is being slowed by reduced market demand. This is particularly
evident in direct-to-consumer products like tiles. We anticipate that this
slower rate of improvement will continue, and the Board expects the Group to
deliver full year revenues of approximately £73m together with Adjusted
EBITDA for H2 of approximately £1m.
We continue to maintain a strong focus on cash with net debt at the end of
Sept. of c. £1.2m which is expected to be maintained at the year-end. We
maintain a sound financial position with an undrawn working capital facility
of up to £4m and flexible banking partner expected to provide sufficient
headroom for continued Group development.
The Board expects that the actions taken to increase margins, reduce costs and
invest in enhanced digital marketing will maintain the improving sales trend
and deliver profitable sales growth going forward.
Dean Murray, CEO of CMO Group PLC, said:
"Like many others in our industry, our experience of this period has not been
easy, especially with the tile market rebalancing online versus in-person. We
are however, seeing an improving trend in our SUPERSTORES endorsing again our
business model and strategy. In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity and
we have embraced our opportunity wholeheartedly, improving margins, reducing
costs and working towards the next organic vertical launch. Consequently, we
are a better business and in good shape to go forward. We remain confident in
our model and in our strategy to take the business forward and to deliver
profitable progress."
29 September 2023
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Enquiries:
CMO Group PLC Via Instinctif
Dean Murray, CEO
Jonathan Lamb, CFO
Liberum Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker) Tel: +44 20 3100 2000
Andrew Godber
Lauren Kettle
Cara Murphy
Instinctif Partners (Financial PR) Tel: +44 20 7457 2020
Justine Warren
Matthew Smallwood
Joe Quinlan
Half Year Trading Update (unaudited)
As reported in the July half-year trading update, we expected the economic
situation to remain challenging during 2023, particularly with rises in
interest rates seriously impacting the construction industry and disposable
incomes. Focus has therefore been on the controllable elements of our
business: product margin, carriage costs, overhead efficiencies and improved
customer experience to promote profitable revenue growth. We are pleased to
report that considerable progress has been made on these strategic priorities.
Sales
Against a challenging economic backdrop, sales were down 12% H1 2023 on H1
2022, but have increased 57% since 2019. Whilst this is largely demand
related, we have resisted competing in spaces where it is not profitable to do
so and have taken conscious decisions which we recognised wouldcompromise
sales in the short-term such as the migration of JTM onto Plumbing
Superstore. Despite this, we have seen an improving sales trend following a
difficult Q1.
The recent market for tiles has been particularly weak (estimated down c. 23%)
and the online market further impacted by the return of customers to store
(online estimated down c. 33%). Total Tiles is trading approximately in line
with the market which means that, of the Group's H1 reduction in like-for-like
sales, Total Tiles accounts for 38% of the deficit while accounting for only
17% of total reported sales.
We have taken significant steps to improve performance at Total Tiles
including changing the management team, investing in trend data to assist with
enhanced product selection and listing, introducing a more consumer-focused
journey with superior visual assets, rebranding the site, and investing in the
Ipswich tile showroom to promote our hybrid model.
Conversely, the SUPERSTORES remain resilient and are seeing an improving sales
trend as we enter H2. The table below illustrates how trading performance has
changed during the year.
QTR 1 QTR 2 JUL and AUG
SUPERSTORES -10% -11% -5%
TILES -20% -27% -37%
Cost and Margin
In common with other operators, we experienced cost increases across all major
cost lines in H1 but are now starting to see some of these moderate. Pricing
and supplier negotiation have been a strategic priority, and we are pleased to
report that product margins excluding carriage have improved by 1.9% compared
to FY 2022.
Modestly increasing carriage charges to customers and negotiation of better
carriage supplier rates has delivered a reduction in the carriage loss in H1
2022 of 67% to 29% in H1 2023, a 56% improvement.
Direct labour costs have been closely matched to demand with some redundancies
necessary, and we have a continuous focus on efficiency.
As detailed in the bridges below (Financial Review), delivery against these
strategic priorities gained momentum in Q2 favourably changing the P&L
dynamics, a change which we will clearly seek to maintain in H2.
Operational KPIs, Customer and Brand
In H1 we continued to experience underlying robustness in our Trade customer
with improvement in our operational KPIs including 16% growth in
revenue-per-session, the number of repeat customers up 20%, and opt-ins to the
marketable database up 14% YOY. Our customer acquisition remains balanced
between paid and non-paid channels at 24% to 76%, and the digital cost of
marketing was 6% for the half year following a similar profile to H1 2022,
albeit slightly higher, due to volatility in the Tiles market.
We have made further progress since July in our program to integrate JTM
plumbing into PLUMBING SUPERSTORE. This is now completed with commensurate
synergies and savings that will be of benefit going forward. The integration
of Total Tiles into TILE SUPERSTORE is also progressing.
Since migrating CMO Trade to BUILDING SUPERSTORE, prompted brand awareness has
risen 100% to 22% (Source: FIX Media).
Financial Review
Total revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2023 was £36.9m (2022:
£41.9m). Although largely the result of reduced market demand, this 12%
decline was partially an expected consequence of adherence to the four key
strategic priorities outlined in our earlier Half Year Trading Update:
· Margin growth.
· Stronger carriage recovery.
· Overhead cost reduction including brand consolidation.
· Improving sales trend.
A successful concentration on delivering profitable business through margin
growth and carriage recovery has inevitably led to a reduction in volume as we
refuse to participate in the "race to zero" pricing that has been detrimental
to certain competitors. A tightening of credit insurance on some trade
customers has also been a challenge to sales growth. Having said that, H1 is
still up 15% like-for-like on pre-Covid levels and the Group is up 57% on a
four-year view.
Product margin has increased 1.9% compared to full year 2022 and a 55%
reduction in net carriage costs. The majority of these benefits have come in
the second quarter of the year as actions to drive the key strategic
initiatives have gained momentum. This can be seen in the bridges shown
below, with Q1 2022 - 2023 data (top graph) shown on the left and Q2 on the
right (bottom graph).
A Q1 reduction in sales of 10% against challenging comparatives (Q1 2022
delivered 38% of 2022 EBITDA) manifested in a volume driven margin reduction
over Q1 2022 of £450k. Margin improvements driven by better pricing and
purchase costs recovered £72k of this and variable marketing spend a further
£12k, but the Q1 execution of a redundancy programme alongside increased
infrastructure spend due largely to acquisitions, led to an overall EBITDA
reduction in Q1 of £585k.
The picture in Q2 was much improved. Continued trading pressures delivered a
volume related margin reduction of £525k, but this was more than offset by
margin enhancement, carriage and redundancy initiatives really taking hold and
leading to an increase in EBITDA in Q2 of £176k. Overheads remain higher
than the prior year, due to inflationary pressures and costs in the acquired
businesses.
The net effect is total EBITDA for H1 2023 of £0.6m (H1 2022: £1.2m), 68% of
which was delivered in Q2.
To understand performance, it is prudent to break out Total Tiles. The UK
tile market has dropped in volume terms an estimated 20% year-on-year and an
estimated 33% online (source: GFK). Total Tiles has performed in line with
this somewhat dramatic market decline and is the primary driver of the overall
decline at Group level. Performance in the SUPERSTORES, which represented
83% of total sales, accounted for 31% of the decline in EBITDA excluding Group
costs while Total Tiles, at 17% of total sales, accounted for 69%.
Movements on prior year
Sales Margin Direct marketing Other cost EBITDA %age of total sales %age of EBITDA decline
£m £m £m £m £m
Superstores -3.08 0.38 -0.09 -0.51 -0.22 83% 31%
Total Tiles -1.92 -0.77 0.00 0.27 -0.50 17% 69%
Total delta exc Group costs -5.00 -0.39 -0.09 -0.24 -0.72 100% 100%
EBITDA Q1 2022 780 EBITDA Q2 2022 241
Sales (450) Sales (525)
Margin 72 Margin 708
Variable marketing costs 12 Variable marketing costs 28
Wages (130) Wages 152
Overheads (89) Overheads (188)
EBITDA Q1 2023 195 EBITDA Q2 2023 417
Operating loss for the period to June 2023 was £0.5m, compared to a £0.5m
profit to June 2022. Exceptional costs for the period were £0.1m (2022:
£0.1m) principally relating to redundancy costs and acquisition integration.
Amortisation and depreciation cost increases reflect acquisitions, platform
investment and right-of-use asset costs increases. The latter will reduce
moving forward as space costs are reduced.
The detailed profit and loss account is set out below:
Consolidated Income Statement for the Period Ended 30 June 2023
Half year Half year Year
ended ended ended
30-Jun-23 30-Jun-22 31-Dec-22
£000 £000 £000
Revenue 36,878 41,869 83,073
Cost of sales (28,828) (33,380) (66,531)
GROSS PROFIT 8,050 8,489 16,542
Administrative expenses (8,418) (7,895) (15,684)
Exceptional administrative expenses (133) (90) (230)
Cost associated with AIM listing
OPERATING (LOSS) / PROFIT (501) 503 628
Finance income 1 0
Finance costs (263) (146) (453)
NET FINANCE COST (262) (146) (453)
(LOSS) /PROFIT BEFORE TAX (763) 358 175
Income tax expense 136 (122) 192
(LOSS) / PROFIT FOR THE PERIOD (628) 236 367
Other comprehensive income 0 0 0
TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (627) 236 367
Basic earnings per share -0.87 0.33 0.51
Diluted earnings per share -0.87 0.33 0.51
Adjusted Basic earnings per share -0.69 0.45 0.83
Adjusted diluted earnings per share -0.69 0.45 0.83
Consolidated statement of financial position
As at 30 June 2023
6 months 6 months Year
ending
ending
ended
30-Jun-23
30-Jun-22
31-Dec-22
Unaudited
Unaudited
Audited
£000 £000 £000
Assets
Current assets
Inventories 5,385 7,137 5,454
Trade and other receivables 2,659 2,593 2,732
Cash and cash equivalents 4,669 7,285 6,210
Total Current Assets 12,713 17,015 14,396
Non-current assets
Property plant and equipment 1,444 1,534 1,451
Right of use assets 1,182 208 119
Goodwill 20,481 20,367 20,445
Other Intangible assets 2,857 2,917 2,968
Deferred tax assets 460 37 324
Total Non-current assets 26,424 25,063 25,308
Total Assets 39,137 42,078 39,704
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (16,540) (18,714) (16,579)
Loans and borrowings (1) (3) (1)
Lease liabilities (585) (172) (210)
Current tax liabilities (56) (196) 0
Current tax liabilities (17,182) (19,084) (16,790)
Non-current liabilities
Loans and borrowings (3,688) (4,572) (4,788)
Lease liabilities (621) (140) 0
Total non-current liabilities (4,309) (4,712) (4,788)
Total liabilities (21,491) (23,796) (21,578)
Net assets / (liabilities) 17,646 18,282 18,127
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
6 months 6 months Year
ending
ending
ended
30-Jun-23
30-Jun-22
31-Dec-22
Unaudited
Unaudited
Audited
£000 £000 £000
Cash flow from operating activities
Loss for the year (627) 236 367
SBP credit 0 0 (286)
Finance income 1 0 0
Finance costs 263 146 453
Corporation tax (136) 122 (130)
Operating profit / loss (501) 504 403
Depreciation 409 250 719
Amortisation 573 411 1,089
(Increase)/Decrease in inventories 69 (1663) 20
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other receivables 73 350 (102)
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other payables 988 2,236 315
Net cash flow from operating activities 1,611 2,087 2,443
Cash flow from investing activities
Payments to acquire intangible fixed assets (472) (636) (1,278)
Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets (43) (74) (69)
Deferred consideration paid 0 (3,415) 0
Cash outflow on business combinations (1,000) (790) (4,661)
Net cash flow from investing activities (1,515) (4,915) (6,008)
Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from other borrowing draw downs (1,100) 1,484 1,700
Tax paid 0 (130) 0
Repayment of lease liabilities (274) (171) (548)
Interest paid on lease liability (23) 0 (66)
Interest paid (239) (146) (387)
Net cash flow from financing activities (1,637) 1,037 699
Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (1,541) (1,791) (2,866)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 6,210 9,076 9,076
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 4,669 7,285 6,210
Stock levels at the half year have fallen by £1.8m compared to June 2022,
when stock weeks were selectively extended to secure availability, reduce lead
times, and maximise margins at a time of continuously rising prices. H1 2023
stock levels remain in line with 2022 year-end.
Trade and other receivables are in line with 2022. A reduction in trade
debtors due to the reduced availability of trade credit insurance on certain
customers and reduced order volumes as a consequence is offset by an increase
in prepayments.
Trade and other creditors have decreased by £2.2m, caused primarily by a
deferred consideration payment of £1m to JTM and volume-related reductions in
trade creditors and customer deposits, which have been temporarily offset by
£0.9m of VAT withheld at the request of HMRC as it works to bring the Group
under a single VAT registration.
These movements, alongside an increase of £1m in right-of-use assets and a
£0.5m increase in lease liabilities both related to the 5-year lease renewal
of the leasehold premises at Plymouth and extension at Ipswich and £0.9m
reduction in the RCF drawn balance have reduced reported cash by £2.6m to
£4.7m.
Drawn facilities of £3.7m (2022: £4.6m) leave net cash of £1m at the period
end (2022: £1.4m) We continue to maintain a strong focus on cash with net
debt at the end of Sept. of c. £1.2m which is expected to be maintained at
the year-end. We maintain a sound financial position with an undrawn working
capital facility of up to £4m and flexible banking partner expected to
provide sufficient headroom for continued Group development.
Opening net cash 1,422
Operating profit 480
Working capital 1,130
CAPEX (515)
Deferred consideration (1,000)
Lease and interest cost (537)
Closing net cash 981
Financing
The Group has banking facilities with Clydesdale Bank through to 2027. The
facilities comprise an amortising revolving credit facilities of £5.75m at
June 2023 and an undrawn working capital facility of up to £4m.
1. General Information
CMO Group PLC ('the Company' or 'the Group') is a public company limited by
shares, incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act 2006
(registration number 13451589) and registered in England and Wales. The
registered office address is Burrington Business Park, Burrington
Way, Plymouth, PL5 3LX.
Copies of this interim report may be obtained from the registered address or
from the investors section of the company's website at cmogroup.com.
2. Basis of Preparation
These consolidated interim financial statements of the group of for the six
months ended 30 June 2023 were approved by the Board of Directors on 28
September 2023.
They do not include all of the information required for a complete set of IFRS
financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Group's last
annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.
However, selected explanatory notes are included to explain events and
transactions that are significant to understanding changes in the Group's
financial position and performance since the last annual financial
statements.
The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 was audited
and has been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The independent auditors
report on the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022
was not qualified and did not contain statements under Section 498 of the
Companies Act 2006.
The financial information for the six months ended 30 June 2023 and 30 June
2022 is unaudited and has not been reviewed by the Company's auditors.
The condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months to
30 June 2023 has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies
expected to be adopted for the year ending 31 December 2022. These are
anticipated to be consistent with those set out in the Group's latest annual
financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2022 with the exception
of where there is a difference between UK GAAP and IFRS. These interims
have been prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting
standards but does not include all of the disclosures that would be required
under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). The interim
financial statements are presented in pounds sterling, which is the functional
currency of the group. Amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand, unless
otherwise stated.
AIM-quoted companies are not required to comply with IAS 34 Interim Financial
Reporting and accordingly the company has taken advantage of this exemption.
The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate
resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and
thus continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these interim
financial statements.
3. Significant Accounting Policies
The group has applied the same accounting policies in these interim financial
statements as in its 2022 annual financial statements with the exception of
where there is a difference between UK GAAP and IFRS. Full disclosure of the
transition to IFRS was made in the Group's AIM admission.
4. Use of judgments and estimates
The significant judgments made by management in applying the Groups accounting
policies and key sources of estimation uncertainty for the interim financial
statements are the same as those described in the 2022 annual financial
statements.
5. Segmental Analysis
The group currently only report on one performance line being the retail of
construction materials.
6. EBITDA
EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and FX)
has been calculated as follows:
6 months 6 months
ending
ending
30-Jun-23
30-Jun-22
Unaudited
Unaudited
£000 £000
Operating loss (501) 503
Depreciation and amortisation 981 661
Exceptional costs 133 90
EBITDA 613 1,254
7. Income tax
The income tax credit /charge for the period is based on the estimated rate of
corporation tax that is likely to be effective for the year to 31 December
2022.
8. Dividends
No dividends were paid or proposed during the period and no dividend was paid
relating to financial year 2022.
9. Earnings per share
The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the
following data:
6 months 6 months Year
ending
ending
ended
30-Jun-23
30-Jun-22
31-Dec-22
Unaudited
Unaudited
Audited
£000 £000 £000
Earnings per share are as follows
Earnings from continuous operations
Net profit / (loss) for the period attributable to the owners of the parent (628) 236 367
Add back : exceptional payroll and other expenses 133 90 104
Add back : costs incurred directly related to acquisitions and share option 126
expenses
Adjusted earnings (495) 326 598
Number of shares 000 000 000
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - basic earnings 71,970 71,970 71,970
calculation
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares 217 217
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic earnings 72,187 71,970 72,187
per share
Weighted average number of ordinary shares from share options - diluted
calculations
2023 2022 2022
pence pence pence
Basic earnings per share - 0.87 0.33 0.51
Diluted earnings per share - 0.87 0.33 0.51
Adjusted basic earnings per share - 0.69 0.45 0.83
Adjusted diluted earnings per share - 0.69 0.45 0.83
Earnings per share (EPS) is calculated by dividing the profit for the year,
attributable to ordinary equity holders of the parent, by the weighted average
number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year.
Diluted EPS is calculated on the same basis as basic EPS but with a further
adjustment to the number of weighted average shares in issue to reflect the
effect of all potentially dilutive share options. The number of people in
potentially dilutive share options is derived from the number of share options
and awards granted to employees and directors where the exercise price is less
than the average market price of the Company's ordinary shares during the
period. Under IFRS no allowances made for the dilutive impact of share options
which reduce a loss per share. The basic and diluted EPS measures are
therefore the same.
Loans and borrowings
6 months 6 months Year
ending ending ended
30-Jun-23 30-Jun-22 31-Dec-22
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
£0 £0 £0
Loans and borrowings
Senior debt (3,688) (4,572) (4,788)
Loan notes 0 0 0
(3,688) (4,572) (4,788)
On 1 July 2021, the Company entered into a revolving credit facility agreement
with Clydesdale Bank Plc (trading as Yorkshire Bank) in respect of revolving
loan facilities in an aggregate amount of £10 million to be made available
to the Group (the "Revolving Facility"). The borrowers under the Revolving
Facility are the Company, CGL, CMOStores Holdings Limited and Total Tiles. The
guarantors under the Revolving Facility are the Company, CGL, cmostores.com
Limited and Total Tiles.
The proceeds of the Facility A of the Revolving Facility (which has a limit
of £6 million) can be used for financing acquisitions permitted under the
Revolving Facility ("Facility A") and the proceeds of Facility B under the
Revolving Facility (which has a limit of £4 million) can be used for the
general corporate and working capital purposes of the Group ("Facility B").
The final maturity date of the Revolving Facility is six years after the date
of the Revolving Facility (the "Termination Date"). Facility A will be reduced
by £250,000 on each quarter from 30 June 2023, until it is reduced by £3
million on 30 June 2026.
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