REG - Lords Group Trading - Trading Update

Lords TradingAnnouncement

Today 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:20251113:nRSM3285Ha&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3285H  Lords Group Trading PLC  13 November 2025

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014
as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended.  Upon the publication of this announcement
via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

 

13 November 2025

 

Lords Group Trading plc

('Lords', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

 

Trading Update

 

Lords (AIM: LORD), a leading distributor of building materials in the UK,
today issues a trading update for the four months ended 31 October 2025 (the
"Period") in which Group revenue increased by 9.6% compared to the equivalent
four-month period in 2024.

 

As has been widely reported, the UK housing market has continued to be
impacted by uncertainty as to, inter alia, potential property tax reforms in
the upcoming Autumn Budget and RMI demand has remained subdued.

 

Like-for-Like ("LFL") revenue in the Group's Merchanting division, which was
11.5% ahead in H1 2025, was 1.8% down on the prior year comparator, in the
four months ended 31 October 2025. Notwithstanding competitors aggressively
targeting market share in the Period, the division has delivered a gross
margin improvement of 50 basis points compared to the equivalent four-month
period in 2024.

 

The Group's Plumbing and Heating division ('P&H'), which grew by 2.4% in
H1 2025, saw LFL revenue 8.3% lower than the comparator in 2024 and the Group
has not yet experienced a significant increase in P&H demand as it has
entered the historically seasonally strong autumn and winter months. The
division has benefited from the September 2025 appointment of Matthew Webber,
its new Chief Operating Officer, and management actions taken earlier in the
year to improve gross margin resulted in an increase of 150 basis points
during the Period compared to the 2024 comparator. Under its new leadership,
further strategic initiatives within P&H are currently under review for
implementation by the end of 2025.

 

Pleasingly, the Group's Digital division formed on the recent acquisition of
CMO, saw its revenues increase month-on-month throughout the Period and the
division delivered its maiden profitable months as part of the Group in both
September and October 2025.

 

As a result, the Group expects to report full year 2025 revenue of £480m -
£485m and Adjusted EBITDA of between £20m - £21m.

 

Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Lords, said:

 

"After delivering strong revenue growth and resilient results in H1 2025, the
UK construction market, as widely reported, has been more challenging since
the late summer, and there has been reduced activity during the seasonally
strong Autumn months in our core markets, as consumers and businesses await
the outcome of the next fiscal budget.

 

"Whilst we're pleased to see an overall increase in Group revenue on an
absolute basis, this was mainly due to CMO which was profitable in September
and October for the first time since acquisition. We continue to defend gross
margin with the strengths of the Group's proposition, tightly control costs,
and to optimise working capital. Whilst recovery in our core markets is taking
longer than had previously been expected in our peer group, we are confident
that Lords is very well positioned to deliver operational leverage and
continue to execute its strategic combination of organic and acquisitive
growth."

 

- Ends -

 

FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

 Lords Group Trading plc                                      Via Burson Buchanan
 Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer                       Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Stuart Kilpatrick, Chief Financial Officer

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited                            Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500

 (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
 Ben Jeynes / Seamus Fricker (Corporate Finance)
 Julian Morse / Henry Nicol / Matt Lewis (Sales and ECM)

 Berenberg (Joint Broker)                                     Tel: +44 (0)20 3207 7800

 Matthew Armitt / Harry Nicholas / Detlir Elezi

 Burson Buchanan                                              Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore / Abby Gilchrist      LGT@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:LGT@buchanan.uk.com)

 

Berenberg (Joint Broker)

Matthew Armitt / Harry Nicholas / Detlir Elezi

 

 

Tel: +44 (0)20 3207 7800

 

Burson Buchanan

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore / Abby Gilchrist

LGT@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:LGT@buchanan.uk.com)

 

 

Notes to Editors:

 

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY
goods.  The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized
plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to
the general public.

 

The Group operates through the following two divisions:

 

Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of
merchant businesses and online platform capabilities.  It operates both in
the 'light side' (building materials and timber) and 'heavy side' (civils and
landscaping), through 32 locations in the UK.

 

Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and
heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the
general public.  The division offers its customers an attractive proposition
through a multi-channel offering.  The division operates over 16 locations
enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

 

Digital: CMO Superstores provides an online route to market from nine
specialist websites for

construction and plumbing & heating customers.

 

Lords was established 40 years ago as a family business with its first retail
unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has grown to
a business operating from 50 sites.

 

For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk
(http://www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk/)

 

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  TSTFFSESEEISEIF



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved