9th Dec 2021 14:56
(Alliance News) - Victorian Plumbing Group PLC on Thursday said annual profit fell and said sales in its new financial year have been subdued as consumer have made less "big ticket material homeware purchases".
Shares in the Skelmersdale, Lancashire-based company were down 43% at 89.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
The bathroom products retailer said pretax profit in the year ended September 30, reduced 17% to GBP19.7 million from GBP23.7 million in the year before.
Victorian Plumbing blamed this on GBP9.4 million of exceptional costs related to its initial public offering in June. Furthermore, share-based payments of GBP7.7 million also added to the reduction.
Interest charged on its lease agreement also increased 50% to GBP300,000 from GBP200,000.
Revenue amounted to GBP268.8 million, improved 29% from GBP208.7 million due to an increase in both total orders and average order value.
Total orders in the year rose 17% to 906,000 from 776,000 and average order value grew 10% to GBP297 from GBP269.
The retailer did not declare a final dividend. Nonetheless, the company stated that it was its intention to pay a dividend for the end of the next financial year.
Victorian Plumbing said that it was looking to balance revenue growth with profitability going forward and added that gross margins may move closer to those achieved the year before.
Furthermore, the bathroom products retailer stated that it was going to become more "aggressive" in its marketing approach to further increase its market shares.
"Although the short-term outlook is difficult to predict as the world normalises from the events of the last two years, it is inevitable that consumer buying behaviour will continue to move online. As the UK's largest online bathroom specialist retailer, Victorian Plumbing is uniquely placed to help consumers obtain exactly what they need for their dream bathroom.
The board remains confident in the medium to long-term growth prospects for Victorian Plumbing," Chief Executive Mark Radcliffe said.
In addition, the company said sales in the first two months of the new financial year are largely flat annually.
"Whilst consumers have continued to spend more on leisure and less on big ticket material homeware purchases, demand and revenue have been broadly the same as last year and 41% ahead of FY20," Victorian Plumbing said.
By Abby Amoakuh; [email protected]
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