17 August 2022
COLEFAX GROUP PLC
(“Colefax” or the “Group”)
Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 April 2022
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
- Record sales and profits for the year reflecting favourable market conditions especially in the US and the UK
- Sales increased by 31% to £101.80m (2021 – £77.91m) and by 33% on a constant currency basis
- Pre-tax profit increased by 100% to £10.82m (2021 – £5.42m) – reflecting operational gearing in the Fabric Division sales and an exceptional performance by the Decorating Division
- Earnings per share increased by 127% to 102.5p (2021 – 45.1p)
- Tender Offer and share buyback returned £6.7 million of surplus capital to shareholders in September 2021
- Cash at 30 April 2022 increased to £21.8m (2021 – £19.3m)
- Fabric Division sales increased by 21.5% to £84.51m (2021 – £69.58m) and by 23.7% on a constant currency basis
- US sales up by 25%, UK sales up by 33% and Europe sales up by 14% (on a constant currency basis)
- Decorating Division sales increased by 152% to £14.63m (2021 – £5.79m) partly due to the completion of projects delayed from the prior year. Pre-tax profit of £1.48 million (2021 – £680,000 loss)
- Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.7p (2021 Nil) making a total for the year of 5.2p (2021- Nil)
David Green, Chief Executive of Colefax Group plc, said:
” Over the past year we have benefitted from the very strong housing market conditions which emerged after the first lockdowns in 2020 and this is the main reason for the Group's record results for the year ended April 30 2022.
“Rising interest rates and high levels of inflation have already started to slow housing market activity and we are therefore cautious about prospects for the coming year especially as we tend to lag changes in the housing market. We are also experiencing high levels of cost inflation especially from our fabric suppliers whose manufacturing operations are being impacted by large increases in energy and raw materials costs. Against this backdrop we believe it is unrealistic to expect continued sales growth in the current year especially against such strong prior year comparatives. The fact that the Group operates at the premium end of the market should provide some protection from high levels of inflation. In addition we are benefitting from the recent strengthening of the US Dollar as over 60% of our Fabric Division revenues are in the US. The Group has a very strong balance sheet including cash in excess of £21 million and is well placed to deal with more challenging trading conditions”