Profitability returns to retailer
Manufacturer and retailer of PVCu windows and doors, Safestyle has delivered its first full year of profitability since 2017.
The Bradford-based company saw revenues rise by over a quarter to £143.3m for the year to 2 January 2022.
The success came against a backdrop of continued uncertainty according to the CEO Mike Gallacher which he attributed to Covid and “the widely-documented supply chain and inflationary pressures” and marked the company’s emergence from “four years of turbulence”.
The company generated an underlying profit of £7.6m with the CEO highlighting that this “represents a £16.4m turnaround from 2018’s underlying losses” and follows a period where the business has focused on both growth and improving margins.
Gallacher noted that the strong performance in 2021 had made the cyber attack the business faced at the end of January “even more frustrating”. The business reported at the time that the attack had a “material impact” on its profits, and resulted its shares to drop 10% in early trading. It added that investments in IT had mitigated the impact but that the activity “caused a level of operational disruption that took some weeks to fully recover from”.
Since the attack was reported the share price has remained below its previous high for the year of 66.80p per share with it closing yesterday at 41p, 20p below the same period last year.
Alongside the financial performance the business noted that 2021 saw it open its 14th installation depot, improving its operational coverage and further improving productivity as well as a 19% reduction in CO2 emissions per frame it installs compared to the same metric in 2020 – hitting a target originally set for 2024.
Looking ahead Gallacher noted that the board remains positive for the year, adding that the first quarter of 2022 had “seen a robust order intake” which he explained was supported by the launch of a new TV advertising campaign featuring David Seaman, which marked the largest investment in the brand since 2017 and is the culmination of a year of “brand development work”.
Following the cyber attack the CEO noted the business plans to accelerate its existing IT modernisation plan in 2022 and 2023 amidst an “increased and likely persistent threat to UK businesses” by cyber threats.
He said: “Looking forward, we expect the impact of inflation and consumer confidence to be reflected in consumer demand for the year ahead, albeit our order book, which is now at record levels, will allow us to smooth the impact of any mid term slowing of demand.
“The business will continue to assess opportunities to accelerate growth in line with our strategy, which encompasses acquisitions, new business development and organic core business growth.”
