Healthy trading boosts turnover and profits at landscape products company
Landscape products group Marshalls has recorded half year revenue of £298.1m (2020: £210.5m) – up 42% against 2020 and up 6% against 2019.
Its interim results for the half year ended 30 June 2021 also feature pre-tax profits of £38.9m, up from £1.6m last year and also a rise on 2019’s figure of £37.1m.
The Elland-based business has highlighted particularly strong growth in its domestic sales – up 54% against 2020 and up 17% against 2019.
And its Public Sector and Commercial sales saw growth up 40% against 2020 and up 1% against 2019 (3% on a like-for-like basis).
EBITDA was £56.4m (2020: £18.2m, before operational restructuring costs and asset impairments of £17.6m), which represents an increase of 3% compared with 2019.
Marshalls says private housing repair, maintenance and improvement continues to be strong and has been the quickest construction sector to recover over the last 12 months.
Its full report adds: “There continues to be strong demand for DIY projects with consumers spending more time at home and choosing to invest in home and garden projects.
“Many households have benefited from higher disposable incomes due to lower commuting costs and lower cash outflows on other things, including holidays.”
Commenting on its response to the well publicised ongoing shortages of materials, Marshalls notes: “Raw material shortages across the construction sector and reduced numbers of HGV drivers within the third party haulage market are causing costs to increase which we are recovering successfully through price increases.
“We continue to benefit from having our own vehicle fleet, which covers a substantial proportion of deliveries, and our aim is to increase logistics efficiency and vehicle utilisation.”
Martyn Coffey, the company’s chief executive, said: “Trading continues to improve and recent order intake has been good.
“Market conditions remain supportive, despite certain supply chain challenges, which are leading to inflationary pressures across the sector.
“The underlying indicators in our main growth markets, including New Build Housing, Road, Rail and Water Management, remain positive.
“As a result, we remain confident that our strategy will deliver long-term profitable growth and that we are well positioned to cope with the temporary challenges associated with cost and material supply issues.
“Encouraged by the continuing strength in demand and the positive trading environment, the Board is confident of making further progress and is accordingly raising its expectations for 2021 and 2022.”
