REG - Eurocell plc - Trading Update

EurocellAnnouncement

Today 07:01

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260514:nRSN2218Ea&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2218E  Eurocell plc  14 May 2026

14 May 2026

EUROCELL PLC

("Eurocell" the "Group" or the "Company")

Trading Update

 

Eurocell plc, the leading UK manufacturer and distributor of window and door
products to the trade, provides the following update for the first four months
of 2026, in advance of the Annual General Meeting ("AGM") later today.

 

Summary

Trading conditions have remained subdued in 2026. Ongoing challenging
macroeconomic conditions and weak consumer confidence have been compounded by
uncertainty over the impact of conflict in the Middle East on demand and
supply chains. This has continued to affect activity levels in both the
repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market and new build housing.

 

To mitigate the impact of weak markets and the situation in the Middle East,
we continue to invest in and progress our strategic initiatives, implement
operational improvements, focus on cost control and offset the impact of
higher input cost prices through a combination of surcharges and sales
strategies.

 

However, the effect of this backdrop on consumer confidence and new build
housing market activity over the near term remains difficult to assess, which
is reflected in the range of analysts' forecasts for the year((1)).

 

((1)) Company compiled range of analysts' forecast adjusted profit before tax
for the year of £21 million to £23 million.

 

Trading Performance

Group sales for the four months to 30 April 2026 were up 9%((2)) on 2025.
Excluding Alunet, sales were up 1%((2)), with an improvement to +5%((2)) for
the month of April. Comparisons by division for the four-month period were:

 

 Sales to 30 April 2026         vs 2025((2))
 Profiles Division              -4%
 Branch Network Division        +5%
 Group, excluding Alunet        +1%
 Total Group, including Alunet  +9%

((2)) On a trading day adjusted basis

 

Profiles - sales down 4%, reflecting reduced RMI activity through our trade
fabricators, and persistent wet weather in the first quarter, with new build
and social housing fabricators reporting a lack of call-off activity from
their customers.

 

Branch Network - sales up 5%, reflecting:

·      Underlying Branch Network sales to the RMI market down 3%

·    Offset by the benefits of progress with our strategic initiatives for
window and door sales (up 29%), e-commerce activity (up 40%), and garden rooms
(up 6%)

·     The nine new branches opened since the end of 2024 have delivered
incremental sales of £1.1 million so far in 2026, compared to the
corresponding period in 2025

 

New branches create a short-term drag on profitability but enable longer-term
profit improvement. Whilst we have identified further potential new sites, we
have temporarily paused the opening programme until there is better visibility
over the general economic outlook.

 

Alunet (acquired in March 2025) - continues to perform strongly, driven by
market share gains.

 

Alunet sales were £18.6 million for the 4 months to 30 April 2026, compared
to £8.3 million for the 2-month post-acquisition period to 30 April 2025. On
a calendar basis, Alunet sales for the 4 months to 30 April 2026 were 19%
ahead of the corresponding period in 2025, reflecting:

·   Alunet Systems new business with fourteen Eurocell fabricators, plus
launch of the new Aluna+ aluminium window system

·   Comp Door continuing to acquire new installers, plus impact of the new
Sleekskin door and benefits from cross selling opportunities through the
Branch Network

 

As a result of Alunet's strong EBITDA delivery, we expect to make earnout
payments shortly of c.£4 million in respect of its 2025 performance.

 

Capital Allocation

In line with our strategic plan, further investments in the next 12 months
include delivering the project to modernise our IT infrastructure, where we
expect to transition at the end of 2026.

 

We are committed to driving shareholder returns through a combination of
ordinary dividends and supplementary distributions where appropriate. Total
shareholder returns for 2025 were £11.4 million, equivalent to a yield of
c.8%. This follows total returns for 2024 of £21.2 million, equivalent to a
yield of c.14%.

 

As previously announced, our intention remains to continue share buybacks in
due course, assuming no prolonged impact from the situation in the Middle East
and subject to maintaining a strong financial position.

 

Our balance sheet is strong, and we have good headroom on our debt facility,
which was renewed in March 2026.

 

 

Enquiries:

Eurocell plc

Will Truman, Chief Executive Officer                   +44
(0) 1773 842 105

Michael Scott, Chief Financial Officer                 +44 (0)
1773 842 140

Teneo

Nick de
Bunsen
+44 (0) 7825 575 258

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTBUGDUUSBDGLX



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved