Safestyle UK PLC Half Year Trading Update and Notice of Results (3956H)
July 27 2023 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSFE
RNS Number : 3956H
Safestyle UK PLC
27 July 2023
27 July 2023
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information stipulated under the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK
domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory
Information Service, this inside information is now considered to
be in the public domain.
Safestyle UK plc
("Safestyle" or the "Group")
Half Year Trading Update and Notice of Results
Safestyle UK plc (AIM: SFE), the leading UK focused retailer and
manufacturer of PVCu replacement windows and doors for the
homeowner market, today issues a trading and operations update for
the six months ended 2 July 2023 ("H1").
Trading and operations update
The Group expects to report H1 revenue of GBP74.0m, a decline of
5.4% on H1 2022, which is in line with our forecasts and reflects
the challenging trading conditions of the first half of the
year.
The combination of inflation, which has continued to remain
higher than economist forecasters expected, and consequential
higher interest rates, have put even greater pressure on our
customers' disposable incomes, weakened consumer confidence and
increased the cost of providing our market leading finance
products. That being said, following the GBP1.4m investment in the
Group's Q1 TV Campaign, brand awareness has continued to grow and
our market share has increased by 30bps to 8.0% (3.9% growth) in
H1.
H1 industry data from Fensa shows that the market for
installations is c.8% lower year on year, with Q2 representing a
declining trend at c.12% lower. Alongside the reduction in
installations in the market, the average number of frames per
installation has also declined.
H1 order intake (value) was 6.4% lower than the prior year and
our H1 order book closed 22% lower than an unusually strong H1 22
comparator.
In response to the challenging market conditions, the Board
initiated the largest efficiency and cost reduction programme for
many years which, regrettably, included a small number of
redundancies at all levels across the business. These actions
equate to a c.GBP2m annualised saving from levels at the start of
2023.
Although these actions have not been enough to fully counter the
volume and margin impact of the trading environment, the Board
remains focused on delivering monthly run rate profitability in a
challenging market which was achieved at the end of H1. In line
with our forecasts, the Group expects to report an underlying loss
before taxation for H1 2023 of c.GBP(6.0)m.
The impact of the H1 financial performance, alongside a one-off
change in timing of payments to our new profile supplier, has
resulted in net cash at 2 July 2023 of c.GBP0.9m.
Outlook
The challenging market conditions have worsened over the last 5
weeks into July and have adversely impacted order intake volumes
which the Board forecasts will be an ongoing trend to the extent
the Group's full year performance is now expected to be materially
below current market expectations. The Board continues to forecast
an underlying profit before taxation for H2, now expected to be
c.GBP0.5m. This performance level represents ongoing delivery of
monthly profitability established at the end of H1 into H2. The
Board also remains confident that the Group will continue to
deliver market share growth for the remainder of the year.
The net cash position at the end of the year is still expected
to be positive. The Group also remains fully compliant with its
borrowing facility arrangements and the full GBP7.5m facility
continues to be accessible.
More detail on the Group's financial performance, the delivery
of its efficiency and cost reduction programme and the progress
made against its strategic priorities will be provided in its
interim results for the six months ended 2 July 2022 on 27
September 2023.
Enquiries:
Safestyle UK plc via FTI Consulting
Rob Neale, Chief Executive Officer
Phil Joyner, Chief Financial Officer
Zeus (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Tel: 0203 829 5000
Dan Bate / James Edis (Investment Banking)
Dominic King (Corporate Broking)
Liberum Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: 0203 100 2100
Jamie Richards / William King
FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Tel: 0203 727 1000
Alex Beagley / Sam Macpherson / Amy Goldup
About Safestyle UK plc
The Group is the leading retailer and manufacturer of PVCu
replacement windows and doors to the UK homeowner market. For more
information please visit www.safestyleukplc.co.uk or
www.safestyle-windows.co.uk .
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTSEUSIWEDSEFW
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Safestyle Uk (LSE:SFE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2024 to Nov 2024
Safestyle Uk (LSE:SFE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2023 to Nov 2024