COLEFAX GROUP PLC
(“Colefax” or the “Group”)
Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 April 2020
Colefax is an international designer and distributor of furnishing fabrics & wallpapers and owns a leading interior decorating business. The Group trades under five brand names, serving different segments of the soft furnishings marketplace; these are Colefax and Fowler, Cowtan & Tout, Jane Churchill, Manuel Canovas and Larsen.
Key Points
Worldwide Covid-19 'lockdowns' significantly impacted sales, with the majority of showrooms, customers and suppliers closed for varying periods
Sales decreased by 9.3% to £78.36m (2019 – £86.36m
Pre-tax profit decreased by 57.3% to £2.18m (2019 – £5.10m), including:
- one-off charge of £0.71m relating to operational integration and
- non-cash charge of £0.71m relating to adoption of IFRS 16 Leases
- excluding these two items, pre-tax profit reduced by 29% to £3.59 million
Earnings per share decreased by 46% to 21.4p (2019 – 39.3p)
Cash at 30 April 2020 increased to £11.5m (2019 – £9.5m).
Board is not proposing a final dividend
Fabric Division sales decreased by 5.8% to £67.03m (2019 – £71.15m) and by 7.3% on constant currency basis
- US sales down by 2.0%, UK sales down by 10.6% and Europe sales down by 11.1%
- in the last six weeks of FY 2020, Fabric Division sales reduced by 45% against the same period last year
Decorating Division sales decreased as expected to £8.96m (2019 – £12.50m) against an outperformance in the prior year
Group utilised government support programmes where appropriate
David Green, Chief Executive of Colefax, said:
“ The Covid-19 pandemic started to have a major impact on the Group in the last six weeks of the financial year ended 30 April 2020 and continued into the current year.
“The most significant impact on sales was during the total lockdown period and as restrictions have been eased we have seen a good recovery in core Fabric Division sales. Current sales trends are ahead of our initial expectations at the start of the pandemic. Sales in July and August were ahead of the prior year and we believe that this is not simply due to deferred sales but also reflects new business arising as a result of the lockdowns .
“The Group has a strong balance sheet with significant liquidity and is well placed to navigate even a severe recession and take advantage of any opportunities that may arise.
“Throughout the pandemic our priority has been the health and safety of our staff, customers and suppliers. Our staff in particular have made an extraordinary effort to respond to the challenges we have faced and I am extremely grateful to every one of them for the sacrifices they have made and for their hard work and loyalty to the Group.”