Pent up demand sees trading improve at listed kitchen supplier

Howdens Joinery Group has previously said that its results for the first half of 2020 were significantly impacted by the disruption caused by the first national lockdown in the second quarter.

However, in a trading update for the period 14 June to 31 October, the firm has said that since then “trading has improved significantly” and that there are “signs of pent up demand since lockdown”.

It reported that for the year to date total UK revenue was 6.8% below that of 2019. In comparison total revenue for its operations in France and Belgium for the year o date were up 7.9%.

The announcement also indicated that the business intends to repay the £22m it received in the first half under the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme before the end of the year alongside £8m of business rates that were waived by certain local councils and other deferred taxes and pension deficit contributions. It also stated it had made no claims under the Job Retention Scheme in the second half.

Andrew Livingstone, CEO, Howdens

“COVID-19 has had a significant impact on all of our lives and Howdens’ priority remains ensuring that our employees and customers are safe and supported. We have also found new ways of working so that we can manufacture safely in a socially distanced environment and, together with our suppliers, ensure stock availability to support customer needs.

“With our Autumn peak trading period concluded, we are progressing our business initiatives, including depot opening and reformatting programmes, new product introductions and digital developments. We remain confident in our business model, which is founded on strong customer relationships and having product in-stock locally. However, we remain cautious about the immediate outlook in these very uncertain times.”