15th Apr 2015 08:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Walker Greenbank PLC Wednesday reported higher profits for its last financial year, as increasing consumer confidence in the UK drove up sales of its luxury interior furnishings, and it said sales had continued to grow in the first few weeks of the current year.
The company, whose designer wallpaper and fabrics brands include Sanderson, Morris & Co., Harlequin, Zoffany, Scion and Anthology, reported a pretax profit of GBP6.3 million for the 12 months to end-January, up from GBP5.5 million a year earlier, as revenue grew to GBP83.4 million, from GBP78.4 million.
The revenue growth was particularly driven by UK brand sales, which rose 10.3%, while sales of the international Anthology brand it launched in March 2014 had exceeded its expectations.
Walker Greenbank raised its final dividend to 1.96 pence a share, from 1.57p last year, bringing the total for the year to 2.31p, up from 1.85p.
Chairman Terry Stannard said the current financial year has got off to a strong start, with brands sales up 7.9% in the first 10 weeks of the year, or 8.6% at constant currencies. Sales in the UK, its largest market, are up 8.1%, while overseas brands sales are up 7.6%, or 9.5% at constant currency rates.
"We are excited by our new product launches, including the third collection from the Anthology brand and by Zoffany's spring launch which will be its biggest launch in six years. We look forward with confidence to the year ahead," Stannard said.
Walker Greenbank makes its wallpapers and fabrics in the UK, and has showrooms in London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam and Dubai along with partnership showrooms in Moscow and in Shenzhen, China. Last year, it invested in further digital capacity, relaunched brands websites, a new warehouse facility, and showroom extensions in London and New York.
"Our UK manufacturing base is a key asset that differentiates us from others in our industry and puts us at the forefront of innovation in printing techniques. Our continuing investment in new digital printers has helped us grow our manufacturing sales and profits on what was a record year last year. We are particularly pleased by the 8.1% growth in UK manufacturing sales to external customers, a large proportion of which is driven by digital printing," it said.
Walker Greenbank shares were up 1.9% at 192.50 pence Wednesday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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