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.
Highlights
|
• |
Group sales up 7.8% to £45.38m (2017: £42.08m); up by 7.7% on a constant currency basis
|
|
|
• |
Group pre-tax profit up 41% to £3.62m (2017: £2.56m) |
|
|
|
− |
strong first half performance from Decorating Division due to timing of contracts – profits of £738,000 (2017: £213,000)
|
|
|
− |
reduced hedging losses of £73,000 compared to £595,000 in prior year
|
|
• |
Core Fabric Division sales up 1.0% to £36.89m (2017: £36.47m) |
|
|
|
− |
US up by 2%, UK flat, Europe down by 1%
|
|
• |
Earnings per share increased by 55% to 27.9p (2017: 18.0p)
|
|
|
• |
Net cash increased by £1.6m to £11.1m (2017: £9.5m)
|
|
|
• |
Interim dividend up by 4% to 2.50p per share (2017: 2.40p) |
|
David Green, Chairman, said:
“The Group has delivered a positive first half performance against a weakening trading environment in most of our major markets. In our core US market we continue to benefit from the strength of the US Dollar but the confidence that we saw at the start of the year has slowed recently and we are therefore more cautious about growth. In the UK trading remains challenging but could improve quickly if there is a satisfactory resolution to the current high level of Brexit uncertainty
“The Group has a strong balance sheet with net cash of £11.1 million and we are well-placed to take advantage of any improvements in market conditions. We will continue to invest with confidence in our portfolio of luxury brands and our worldwide distribution network.”