Good reaction to crash-pad range heats up autumn for AGA

MIDLAND-based cooker and boiler manufacturer AGA Rangemaster has said strong UK sales have been central to its recent good performance.

The range cooker and boiler specialist said in a trading update that the sales trend from the earlier part of the year had continued into the autumn.

It said its performance had been helped by the positive reaction to its new small range, the AGA City60, which is aimed at flats and ‘crash pads’ in the City. It said this had broadened its addressable market.

For Rangemaster, UK sales growth has also been central to a good performance. It said its Marvel refrigeration operation was seeing strong growth and its new generation of premium refrigerators, complying with new regulations, had reset sector standards. Fired Earth has seen high teen order growth this year and profits are well up.

Trading in Europe continued to be mixed and consumers were said to be staying cautious in their spending. In particular, performance from Grange, the French-based furniture operation, and Waterford Stanley, the Irish stoves led business, continued to be weak.

The company said this was likely to temper the overall growth the group was likely to achieve this year.

The group said its brands had modernised its ranges for today’s consumer taste and closer international commercial partnerships were under consideration to drive the benefits from these introductions more quickly.

William McGrath, AGA Chief Executive said: “We have made winning product introductions and the progress made in our major appliance brands, led by AGA, Rangemaster and Marvel refrigeration, is encouraging. That will be amplified as work to turnaround our remaining brands’ performances is completed.”