REG - Pittards PLC - Trading update & Board Change

PittardsAnnouncement

10/02/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2255B  Pittards PLC  10 February 2022

10 February 2022

PITTARDS PLC

("Pittards", "Company" or "the Group")
 
 

Trading update & Board Change

Pittards plc (AIM: PTD), the specialist producer of technically advanced leather and luxury
 leather goods for retailers, manufacturers, and distributors, announces a
trading update in respect of its financial results for the
year ended 31 December 2021 ("FY2021") which are planned to be announced
on 23 March 2022.

 

Key highlights (unaudited)

 

·    FY 2021 sales revenue up 30% to £19.8m (2020: £15.2m)

·    Return to profitability £0.5m (2020: £2.3m loss) for full year in
line with market expectations

·    Sales order book opened, up 25% in January 2022 compared to the start
of 2021

 

End of year summary

Sales revenue rose 30% to £19.8m (2020: £15.2m), slightly ahead of market
estimates, whilst profit before tax is expected to
be in line with market estimates.

 

The well documented disruption in the global shipping and transport market
impacted our supply chains. Cases of COVID directly impacted production,
capacity during the year, and distribution performance across our business and
supply chains. A strategic decision was made to increase raw material
inventory to counter supply chain issues. This resulted in more material
being in transit than usual from Ethiopia, with sheep skin
raw material up over £1.4m in value terms, of which £1.1m (2020: £0.1m)
was in transit at year end. Our strategy to utilise existing finished and
processed material achieved a reduction of £1.0m in finished goods and work
in progress inventory. The combination of these factors resulted in inventory
closing only marginally higher at £15.4m (2020: £15.0m).

 

2021 was also a year of higher-than-normal capital investment with
aggregate capital spend over the period of £0.8m, laying
the foundations for 2022 and beyond. Net debt at the year-end stood
at £10.7m (2020: £10.1m).

 

Board change

 

After 3 years' service, Richard Briere, Group CFO, is stepping down from the
Board to return to a senior role in private equity. He will remain a Director
of the Company until his departure in April 2022. Richard will remain focused
on the delivery of the Company's full year results, scheduled for 23 March
2022, and on ensuring the effective transition of his responsibilities. The
Company is actively recruiting his replacement.

 

Outlook

We remain cautious, in the short term, but hope the pandemic is now evolving
through a final phase to enable a recovery to more normal conditions. Signs of
recovery in sales, identified at the interim stage, continued in the second
half. Given the sales order book, we therefore anticipate a further
improvement in sales and profit in 2022, notwithstanding global
inflationary pressures, particularly surrounding energy, and input costs.

 

Certain information contained in this announcement would have constituted
inside information (as defined by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014)
("MAR") prior to its release as part of this announcement and is disclosed, in
accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 Pittards plc                 www.pittards.com
                              (https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.pittards.com&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=7Um2a7LLyUH5SxHgl6zdagatUzGQxXwYgU_CeVAgL9Q&m=dcxSX44rdBUfn6sOWMPfQnBnCJtou4u4IKqv6fz9X7A&s=rFM_1ZGKBHfxhkHpVSXLSt0x8mI_pHwBTYmsp
                              -PFAYY&e=___.YXAxZTp3aGlyZWxhbmRwbGMyOmE6bzo0Y2UwZTIwNGM5YWVlMmJlOTIzMmFjMmE5ZjllMWU2OTo1OjRmZjI6YmY3ZjYxYThjZWYwZGIzMjMyZTFiNDQxNDgxODU3YmU2N2M1YTA2NzRkMDlhN2YxY2U3YWI0M2FmOWJlMWVmNDpoOk4)
 Stephen Yapp, Chairman       +44 (0) 1935 474 321

 Reg Hankey, CEO

 Richard Briere, CFO
 WH Ireland Limited           www.whirelandcb.com
                              (https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.whirelandcb.com&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf
                              -v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=7Um2a7LLyUH5SxHgl6zdagatUzGQxXwYgU_CeVAgL9Q&m=dcxSX44rdBUfn6sOWMPfQnBnCJtou4u4IKqv6fz9X7A&s=uwWmqYjtNZPcS8QukoDxtHweFZxHlswL4tFk_in3gJE&e=___.YXAxZTp3aGlyZWxhbmRwbGMyOmE6bzo0Y2UwZTIwNGM5YWVlMmJlOTIzMmFjMmE5ZjllMWU2OTo1OmU3YmQ6YjdjOTRlOTZiODg5ZGUyMmUwYjUxMTdkZWQzNjRiMDViODM2MzEzMjBmZGQ3ODMyMmIyZThlYzg4ZDE1NDIzODpoOk4)
 Mike Coe, Sarah Mather       +44 (0)20 7220 1666
 Walbrook PR                  pittards@walbrookpr.com
 Paul Vann, Nicholas Johnson  +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or +44 (0)7768 807631

 

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