Building materials distributor and DIY retailer Grafton Group have released its Q3 trading update for the four months to 31 October.
The update shows that trading in the four months to 31 October 2020 was ahead of expectations. Grafton Group’s like-for-like revenue was up by 6.3 per cent and total revenue was up by 5.1 per cent to £1.0 billion (2019: £962.0 million).
Gavin Slark, Chief Executive Officer of Grafton Group plc said: "I am very grateful for the way that colleagues across the Group have continued to respond to the ongoing pandemic and thank them sincerely for their dedication, commitment and hard work which has enabled our businesses to continue to trade and to support our customers in a safe environment. Despite all the current uncertainties, we are very encouraged by the trading and financial performance of the Group over recent months. Grafton is in a very strong financial position and has a diversified portfolio of market leading businesses with exposure to residential RMI leaving it well placed to benefit from current market trends."
The report shows that demand was strongest in the Woodie's DIY, Home and Garden business in Ireland and in the residential repair, maintenance and improvement ("RMI") segment of the distribution markets in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Grafton’s net cash position before (IFRS 16) lease liabilities increased to £150.0 million at 31 October 2020, up from £58.6 million at 30 June 2020 June reflecting the strong cash flow from operations in the period.
The Group had liquidity of £783.2 million at 31 October 2020 of which £423.2 million was held in accessible cash and £360.0 million in undrawn revolving bank facilities.
The company’s revenue for the ten months to 31 October 2020 in continuing operations declined by 9.0 per cent to £2.07 billion (ten months to 31 October 2019: £2.28 billion) and by 9.3 per cent in constant currency. It’s like-for-like revenue was down by 11.4 per cent in the ten months due to the impact of the pandemic on trading in the second quarter that was partly offset by a marked improvement in trading in the four months to the end of October.
Grafton is on course to deliver a strong performance for the second half following a higher than expected level of operating profit for the four months to the end of October.
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