16th Oct 2024 10:54
(Alliance News) - Sanderson Design Group PLC on Wednesday said its interim profit has fallen more than 75% following a decline in sales and "challenging" market conditions.
The London-based interior design and furnishings company said pretax profit for the six months ended July 31 was GBP1.5 million, plummeting 76% from GBP6.2 million at the same time last year. Revenue fell 11% to GBP50.5 million from GBP56.7 million.
This was attributed to a "challenging consumer environment".
Two large licensing deals with Blinds2go Ltd and Brink & Campman BV in the first half represented around GBP2.0 million in accelerated income and Sanderson Design secured more than 10 licensing agreements with large retailers and category specialists during the period.
Shares in Sanderson Design were down 18% at 62.57 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
Sanderson Design declared an interim dividend of 0.50 pence per share, down from 0.75p last year.
Chair Dianne Thompson said: "We remain focused on the strategic growth opportunity of North America, on careful cost control and on implementing strategic changes to respond to market conditions and to position the company for future growth. Licensing has continued to perform well with a number of new contracts signed in the current half, including an agreement between Ruggable and the Sanderson brand, and a two-year extension with Bedeck.
"Trading conditions at the start of the second half have been more challenging than expected in almost all territories, particularly in the UK and Northern Europe. Total brand product sales for the first eight months of the current financial year are down 10%, which compares with being 9% lower for the first 22 weeks of the financial year as announced on June 27. Delivery of the board's expectations is reliant on a projected improvement in trading during the remainder of the financial year, which includes our important pre-Christmas selling period."
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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