REG - Eurocell plc - Year End Trading Update

EurocellAnnouncement

28/01/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250128:nRSb8592Ua&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 8592U  Eurocell plc  28 January 2025

28 January 2025

EUROCELL PLC

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

Year End Trading Update - Profits In Line With Expectations

 

Eurocell plc, the market leading, vertically integrated UK manufacturer,
distributor and recycler of innovative window, door and PVC roofline products,
provides the following update for the year ended 31 December 2024.

 

Summary

Trading conditions in our key markets have remained subdued, with challenging
macroeconomic conditions and weak consumer confidence, further compounded by
uncertainty following the Autumn Budget and high interest rates, impacting
activity levels in both the repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) and new
build housing markets. We continue to focus on proactively managing costs and
cash flow, and notwithstanding the market environment, we expect underlying
profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2024 to be in line with
market expectations.

 

Whilst we expect the near-term market outlook to remain challenging, we are
making good progress with the early stages of our five-year strategy. Our
balance sheet is strong and the actions we have taken position us well to
benefit when our end markets improve.

 

Trading Performance

Group sales for the year ended 31 December 2024 were £358 million, down 2% on
the prior year. Comparisons by division were as follows:

 

 Sales vs 2023   12 months to 31 Dec 2024
 Total Group     -2%
 Profiles        -6%
 Branch Network  +1%

 

Profiles - reduced RMI activity and a continuing weak new build housing
market.

 

Branch Network - although general RMI volumes in the branch network were down,
overall sales were up on 2023, reflecting the initial benefits of progress
with our strategic initiatives for garden rooms, windows, doors and ecommerce
activity.

 

We are experiencing competitive pressure on selling prices in the branches, as
well as overhead cost inflation across the business.

 

The Group has assessed the impact of the employers' National Insurance and
National Living Wage changes announced in the Autumn Budget, which take effect
from April 2025. We estimate additional costs of c.£3 million per annum,
which we plan to offset through selling price increases and other management
actions, including cost reduction.

We continue to focus on efficient working capital management and delivered
solid cash flow generation for the year. As a result, pre-IFRS 16 net debt was
£3.1 million at 31 December 2024, compared to net cash of £0.4 million at 31
December 2023.

 

Capital Allocation

We are committed to driving shareholder returns through a combination of a
progressive ordinary dividend and supplementary distributions (currently via
share buybacks) where appropriate, whilst always seeking to maintain a strong
financial position.

 

Good cash flow management has underpinned the successful delivery of a £15
million share buyback programme in 2024, which is now substantially complete.
The Board regularly reviews the case for supplementary distributions in the
context of our financial position, our capital allocation priorities and
market conditions.

 

Appointment of Chief Operating Officer

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Stuart Livingstone as Chief
Operating Officer, responsible for our branch network operations and supply
chain. He joined earlier this month from Howdens, where he was Trade Director.
Prior to Howdens, Stuart worked for Pets at Home and Screwfix, where he was
Director of Retail.

 

Notice of Results

We expect to publish our results for the year ending 31 December 2024 on 20
March 2025, at which time we will provide further guidance on the year ahead.

 

 

Enquiries:

Eurocell plc

Darren Waters, 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  TSTVDLFLEFLXBBQ