Struggle continues at Styles & Wood

SHOPFITTER Styles & Wood continued to struggle during the first half of 2011, with the firm declaring a pre-tax loss of £879,000 (2010: £934,000 loss) on flat sales of £40.3m.

The company’s cash resources have also dwindled to £2.4m, compared with £5.3m a year ago.

However, new chief executive Tony Lenehan argued that the results showed a slight sign of improvement, which he said reflected the firm’s decision “not to chase revenue at the expense of margin”.

He argued that its order book is currently 10% ahead of last year, despite a market which continues to be tough.

Revenues from its commercial office and banking sector were up 68% on the prior year, with Lenehan saying that it had benefited from “investment by the high street banks in their branch network”. Its major customers within the sector include Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and Nationwide.

Moreover, it has gained initial success from its bid to break into the public sector and said that cuts could work in its favour as councils and other government agencies decide to refurbish existing buildings rather than moving into new space.

However, the high street retail business now makes up just 42% of its total revenues, compared with 62% last year.

Lenehan argued that the company now had a flatter management structure and had launched a number of new innovations that would help to differentiate the company from others in the sector.

These have included developing a specialism in adding alternative energy solutions such as photovoltaics and developing a “sustainable” modular building system for retail convenience stores.

“The changes implemented following the strategic review mean that the group now has a broader platform for sustainable, profitable growth,” he said.

“While we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we are encouraged by the Group’s order book and by the diverse range of new opportunities.

“We are still bidding and converting opportunities for delivery in 2011 and we are encouraged by our customers’ indications that their investment plans for 2012 will be above 2011 levels.”