Brammer bullish on prospects

INDUSTRIAL products distributor Brammer said today trading since July had remained strong and it expected to “enjoy growth significantly ahead of the market”.

The company, whose UK distribution centre is in Wolverhampton, moved into the tools sector in September with the £27m acquisition of Coventry firm Buck & Hickman.

It said today it had continued to win new contracts and market share in recent months.

Five new pan-European key accounts were added, making 11 in the year to date.

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Brammer said total potential revenues from these accounts were worth more than £60m per year.

It said the Buck & Hickman deal offered a “step change” in cross-selling opportunities throughout Europe, with even better opportunities for growth than it had previously expected.

“Since the acquisition our knowledge of the tools and general maintenance market has increased significantly and we now believe the market to be substantially larger than our original estimates; we will report further on this with our preliminary results announcement in early 2012,” Brammer said.

In the four months since July 1, sales per working day, excluding the acquisition, were up 14.6% on last year at constant currency rates.

Brammer said Buck & Hickman was trading well with sales per working day up 12% in October compared with last year.

Looking ahead, the group stated: “November has started well. Notwithstanding the economic uncertainties in Europe, our strategy of focusing on key accounts, insites and cross-selling initiatives underpins the growth momentum.”