Victoria PLC Full Year Trading Update (7110J)
April 04 2018 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMVCP
RNS Number : 7110J
Victoria PLC
04 April 2018
4 April 2018
For Immediate Release
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
Victoria PLC
('Victoria,' the 'Company,' or the 'Group')
Full Year Trading Update
Results Ahead of Market Expectations
Victoria PLC, (LSE: VCP) the international designers,
manufacturers and distributors of innovative flooring, provides the
following positive trading update:
The Board is pleased to announce that, for the fifth consecutive
year, the Group's revenue and underlying profit before tax are
expected to be ahead of consensus market expectations for the
financial year ended 31 March 2018.
The Group's performance, driven by the strong operational
management team, has continued to deliver like-for-like growth,
gains in market share, plus operational synergies. This has
included the previously announced rationalisation of the UK
manufacturing facilities, which has positively impacted gross
profit margin and reduced overheads since being implemented during
the financial year. The trading performance of the two ceramics
businesses acquired in late 2017 has also been encouraging and
consistent with expectations.
Outlook
Victoria remains focused on its mission to create wealth for
shareholders.
In line with the Group's strategy to diversify both
geographically and by product category, nearly 60% of the Group's
earnings are now generated from outside the UK and are spread
across several categories of flooring including carpets, ceramics,
underlay, and LVT. This geographic and product diversification,
coupled with the low operational gearing inherent in the business,
reduces the Group's overall operational risk.
Ongoing operational improvements in logistics, procurement, and
production efficiencies are expected to continue to deliver further
organic earnings growth over the coming 12 months.
Additionally, the Board of Victoria has invested a significant
amount of management focus during the past year identifying
additional suitable acquisition opportunities. Shareholders should
anticipate further acquisition-led growth focussed on Europe.
Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman, commented:
"We are now seeing the clear benefits of our strategy to develop
a broadly based, resilient flooring business, where operational and
manufacturing synergies lower costs, whilst also providing a robust
platform for organic and acquisitive growth. This is in no small
part due to the excellence of our wider senior management teams who
continue to drive the business and create opportunities to grow
market share while maintaining margins.
The Board is encouraged by 2018 trading to date. Together with
progress on ongoing internal initiatives to deliver synergies and
revenue growth, and the very attractive acquisition prospects
already identified, the Board is confident it will deliver another
year of significant, earnings-accretive growth in the 2018/19
financial year."
Date of Preliminary Results
The Board of Victoria expect to announce the Group's preliminary
results for the year ended 31 March 2018 in July 2018.
For more information contact:
Victoria PLC +44 (0) 1562 749 300
Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman
Philippe Hamers, Group Chief Executive
Michael Scott, Group Finance Director
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe +44 (0) 20 7894 7000
(Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Rick Thompson, Phil Davies, Will Goode (Corporate Finance)
Caspar Shand Kydd, Alex Pollen (Sales)
Berenberg +44 (0) 20 3753 3069
(Joint Broker)
Ben Wright, Mark Whitmore (Corporate Broking)
Buchanan Communications +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Charles Ryland, Madeleine Seacombe
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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