27th Feb 2020 10:06
(Alliance News) - Howden Joinery Group PLC on Thursday hiked its annual dividend amid strong growth in profit and revenue through a robust performance in the UK.
For the year, the FTSE 250-listed supplier of kitchen and joinery products reported a 9.3% rise in pretax profit to GBP260.7 million from GBP238.5 million the year before, on revenue that grew by 4.8% to GBP1.58 billion from GBP1.51 billion.
Revenue growth was mainly driven by a strong UK performance, with UK depots revenue rising by 4.9% to GBP1.55 billion, meaning 98% of all group revenue.
Depot revenue in Continental Europe was down 2.9% to GBP33.0 million, reflecting the closure of depots in the Netherlands and Germany in January 2019, which more than offset sales increases in France and Belgium.
Howden Joinery declared a final dividend of 9.1 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 13.0p, up 12% from 11.6p the prior year.
Looking ahead, Howden Joinery said for the period from January 1 to February 22, UK depot sales increased by 1.6%. The company plans to open 30 new depots in the UK and 5 in France.
In addition, Howden Joinery said that with respect to coronavirus, it will monitor its supply chain closely, and has increased forward stock levels for product sourced from China, while looking at alternative sources.
"2019 was a year of progress for Howdens and I am pleased with how the business performed. We increased group revenue by 4.8% to GBP1.6 billion, with profit before tax, up 9.3%, increasing faster than sales, and gross margin also improving," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Livingston.
"We have initiatives underway to improve business performance further, focussed on depot format efficiencies, improving range management and the development of our digital platform. We have a new depot format which is designed to enable us to use depot space more efficiently and give us the option to open smaller depots in new locations. Consequently, we see the opportunity for around 850 UK depots," Livingston added.
Shares in Howden Joinery were down 1.3% at 668.60 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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