12 April 2017 – trading update
The group, which is a leading supplier of branded showers, taps, tiles and bathroom accessories has issued a trading statement covering the year to 31 March. This has revealed that group underlying profit is expected to be in line with expectations reflecting a robust performance in difficult trading conditions. Revenue for the year is expected to have risen by almost 15% to £271m with growth seen in both the UK and South Africa. The group has also announced plans to restructure the UK tiles business which will increase the manufacturing flexibility at Johnson Tiles but will also see around 90 redundancies. This will involve an exceptional charge of some £2.3m which will be taken in the year that has just ended with the cash outflow in the current financial year. The cash payback from the restructuring should be seen within 12 months. Good cash generation meant that net debt at the year end had fallen to £24m (2015: £32.5m). The group has once again stated that it is confident over future prospects and we retain our recommendation of BUY.