Boost in profits and revenue fuels expansion at Howden Joinery Group

Howden Joinery Group delivered “another good performance” in 2018 as both profits and revenue grew.

For the financial year ending 29 December 2018, total group revenue increased by £107.5m to £1,5bn. Howden Joinery UK depot revenues rose 7.7% from £1.37bn to £1.48bn, and UK revenue increased by 6.3% on a same depot basis from £1.36bn to £1.45bn.

Pre-tax profits also rose to £238.5m from £232.2m. The Group concluded the year with £231m in cash, after investing £44m in the business and returning £131m to shareholders.

During this period, 33 new depots opened in the UK, bringing the total to 694 at the end of 2018; and a further 18 new kitchen ranges were also introduced.

Andrew Livingston, chief executive of Howden Joinery Group, said: “Howdens delivered another good performance in 2018. We increased sales by 7.7% to £1.5bn. Gross profit and profit before tax also increased, with gross margin improving in the second half. We ended the year with £231m in cash, after investing £44m in the business and returning £131m to shareholders.

“We opened 33 new depots in the year and the first phase of our new Raunds distribution facility became fully operational, delivering all product on time in full during our peak trading period.

“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 put a new depot format into a limited number of depots, designed to enable us to use depot space more efficiently and give us the option to open smaller depots in new locations.

“Consequently we now see the opportunity for around 850 UK depots. Our investment in digital will both reinforce the strong local relationships we have with builders and improve awareness of the Howden offer with consumers.”