25th Feb 2016 08:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kitchens and joinery products supplier Howden Joinery Group PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit pushed higher in 2015 following a robust year of trading for the company and said 2016 had started in line.
Howden said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December rose to GBP219.6 million from GBP188.8 million, as revenue rose to GBP1.22 billion from GBP1.09 billion, driven by a 12% rise in sales in its UK depot business.
Howden will pay a final dividend of 7.1 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 9.9p from 8.4p, and said it would return a further GBP55.0 million to shareholders through a buyback programme.
The company opened 30 new depots in the UK in 2015, taking the total number up to 619, and extended its trial in the French market, opening five new depots. The company also opened a new outlet in the Netherlands over the year.
For the first months of 2016, Howden said revenue from its UK depot business increased 7.1% year-on-year, in line with its expectations and enough for the group to affirm its expectations for the full year.
"We are well positioned and look forward to continued growth in 2016. We will continue to invest in the business, to ensure that we can take advantage of the short and long-term growth opportunities that we foresee, and to address the challenges of a more complex market and security of supply. This investment will be in both our day-to-day operations and our supply chain capacity," said Matthew Ingle, Howden's chief executive.
Shares in Howden were up 1.4% early Thursday to 496.00p.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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