Life still tough for Norcros

NORTH West tiles and shower maker Norcros said today its UK business was performing well despite tough conditions.

In the 18 weeks to August 2, the group’s shower business, Triton, grew revenue by 3.2%.

However export revenues, which represent around 17% of Triton’s total sales, continued to be impacted by the decline in the Irish market and fell by 22.9%. As a result, Triton’s overall revenues declined by 2.5%.

Johnson Tiles produced a strong performance on the back of new products and revenue was 1.5% ahead, but overall a fall in exports meant that overall revenue was 0.6% down.

In South Africa, the group’s performance continues to be impacted by falling demand. However Norcros said the new senior management team is settling in well and has identified further actions to improve efficiencies in both the tile manufacturing and retail operations.

In a statement Norcros said group revenues for the period increased by 2.1% in Sterling but declined by 3.7% on a constant currency basis, reflecting a revenue decline of 1.5% in its UK operations and 6.6% in its South African market.