REG - Victorian Plumbing - Full Year Trading Update & Notice of Results

Victorian PlumbingAnnouncement

15/10/2024 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:20241015:nRSO1384Ia&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1384I  Victorian Plumbing Group PLC  15 October 2024

15 October 2024

 

Victorian Plumbing Group plc

("Victorian Plumbing" or "Group")

 

Full Year Trading Update and Notice of Results

 

Victorian Plumbing Group plc (AIM: VIC), the UK's leading bathroom retailer,
today provides an update on trading for the year ended 30 September 2024
("FY24").

 

Trading Update

 

The Group is pleased to report that revenue for FY24 increased by c.4% on the
prior year (decreased c.1% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of
the acquisition of Victoria Plum(1)). Adjusted EBITDA for FY24 is anticipated
to be in line with market expectations.

 

The trends experienced in the first half have continued through the balance of
FY24. Robust customer demand, together with the acquisition, have driven
further market share gains and strong order volume growth of 10% versus FY23
(+3% like-for-like), with a record 1,021,000 orders delivered in the year
(FY23: 932,000).

 

Customers are responding well to the Group's own brand proposition and have
continued to trade away from third party brands into the Group's own brand
range, resulting in an average order value reduction of c.5% versus FY23 (c.4%
like-for-like). However, this has been more than offset by strong gross margin
gains, which increased 300bps to 50% (FY23: 47%).

 

Cessation of Victoria Plum operations

 

Victoria Plum was acquired on 17 May 2024; it contributed c.£15m of revenue
and incurred an adjusted EBITDA loss of c.£2m in the period since
acquisition. The Group has recently finalised a consultation process with
Victoria Plum's workforce and has taken the decision to close the business and
its operations in Doncaster, which is expected to be completed by 31 December
2024.

 

New Distribution Centre

 

The Group is pleased to confirm that its new 544,000 square feet
semi-automated distribution centre in Leyland, Lancashire, is now operational,
with more than half of all daily orders being dispatched from the new site.
Management expects all orders to be dispatched from the new distribution
centre by the end of the calendar year.

 

Notice of Preliminary Results

 

Preliminary results for the year ended 30 September 2024 will be published on
15 January 2025. This extended schedule will allow the Group sufficient time
to manage the discontinuation of Victoria Plum.

 

 

Mark Radcliffe, CEO of Victorian Plumbing, commented:

"I am pleased with the Group's performance in FY24 which has been a very busy
year for Victorian Plumbing. We have increased profitability, as our higher
margin own brand proposition continues to resonate with customers and
consolidated our leading position as the UK's number one bathroom retailer. At
the same time, we have delivered a year of transformational change with
significant investment in our people, technology and operations.

 

"Our state of the art new distribution centre is now operational and will
remove previous capacity constraints, enabling us to serve customers more
efficiently and execute on our strategic growth plans in our expansion
categories and our trade proposition. Moreover, the recent decision to close
Victoria Plum provides the Group with a significant opportunity to accelerate
growth and continue to further the investment in our brand and marketing.

 

"This positive momentum and the successful delivery of our warehouse
transformation reaffirms confidence in our profitable growth strategy that is
delivering long-term value for all stakeholders."

 

 1  Acquisition of AHK Designs Ltd trading as Victoria Plum

 

 

-ENDS-

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Victorian Plumbing Group plc                           via FTI Consulting

 Mark Radcliffe, Chief Executive Officer                +44 20 3727 1000

 Daniel Barton, Chief Financial Officer

 FTI Consulting (Financial PR)                          +44 20 3727 1000

 Alex Beagley, Harriet Jackson, Amy Goldup, Lia Bevan   VictorianPlumbing@fticonsulting.com

 Houlihan Lokey UK Ltd (Nominated Adviser)              +44 20 7839 3355

 Sam Fuller, Tim Richardson

 Barclays Bank PLC (Joint Broker)                       +44 20 7623 2323

 Nicola Tennent, Stuart Muress

 Deutsche Numis Securities Limited (Joint Broker)       +44 20 7260 1000

 Luke Bordewich, Oliver Steele

 

About Victorian Plumbing Group

 

Victorian Plumbing is the UK's leading bathroom retailer, offering a wide
range of over 34,000 products to B2C and trade customers. The Group provides a
one-stop shop solution for the entire bathroom with more than 150 own and
third party brands across a wide spectrum of price points.

 

Victorian Plumbing's product design and supply chain strengths are
complemented by its creative and brand-focused marketing strategy to drive
significant and growing traffic to its platforms.

 

Headquartered in Leyland, the Group employs over 600 people across several
locations in Lancashire, Manchester and Birmingham.

 

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  TSTFFMFWLELSELS