Ultimate
Products plc
("Ultimate Products", or "the Group")
Q3 trading
update
Ultimate Products, the owner of a
number of leading homeware brands including Salter (the UK's oldest
houseware brand, est.1760) and Beldray (est.1872), announces its Q3
trading update for the period from 1 February 2024 to 30 April
2024.
In the Group's interim results, it
reported total revenue down 4% with Adjusted EBITDA broadly flat on
the prior year. Since that time, trading has been impacted by a
slowdown in near-term sales from landed stocks (call off, regular
stock and online sales), typically at higher gross margin,
reflecting the broader slowdown seen in retail sales to consumers.
This has resulted in revenue being down 7% year-on-year for Q3. The
Directors believe it is sensible to assume that these trading
conditions will continue throughout Q4. Therefore, the Directors
expect FY24 revenues to be at least £156m, with gross margin being
in line with last year, and Adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of
£17.5-18.5m.
As the year progresses, we are
continuing to see the gradual resumption of normal ordering
patterns from our retailer customers as the overstocking issues
brought about by the pandemic subside. The increase in forward
ordering by retailers has primarily been benefitting our forward
order book for FY25, and as a result we are already seeing
significant growth over the FY24 order book. The Directors
therefore have confidence in the Group's prospects for
FY25.
Commenting on the update, Andrew Gossage, Chief Executive of
Ultimate Products, said:
"It is disappointing that Spring has seen continued poor
demand from consumers, which has adversely affected sales in the
current quarter. Our assumption is that these challenging
conditions will persist in the short-term and so impact our FY24
outcome. In contrast, the order book for FY25, at this early stage,
is significantly ahead of FY24 as retailers continue to increase
their forward orders as the overstocking issues brought about by
the pandemic subside and consumer confidence builds as we see a
return to real wage growth. As such, we remain confident in the
Group's medium-term prospects."
*
Consensus market expectations for the financial year ending 31 July
2024 are currently revenues of £166.7m, adjusted EBITDA of £21.5m
and adjusted EPS of 15.6p
For more information, please
contact:
Ultimate Products +44 (0) 161 627
1400
Andrew Gossage, CEO
Chris Dent, CFO
Shore Capital +44 (0) 20 7408
4090
Mark Percy
Malachy McEntyre
David Coaten
Harry Davies-Ball
Isobel Jones
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited +
44 (0)20 7220 0500
Carl Holmes (Corporate
Finance)
Matt Goode (Corporate
Finance)
Abigail Kelly (Corporate
Finance)
Charlie Combe (ECM)
Powerscourt +44 (0) 207 250
1446
Rob Greening
Sam Austrums
Oliver Banks
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended). Upon the
publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information
Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the
public domain.
Notes to Editors
Ultimate Products is the owner of a
number of leading homeware brands including Salter (the UK's oldest
houseware brand, established in 1760) and Beldray (a laundry, floor
care, heating and cooling brand that was established in 1872).
According to its market research, nearly 80% of UK households own
at least one of the Group's products.
Ultimate Products sells to over 300
retailers across 38 countries, and specialises in five product
categories: Small Domestic Appliances; Housewares; Laundry; Audio;
and Heating and Cooling. Other brands include Progress (cookware
and bakeware), Kleeneze (laundry and floorcare), Petra (small
domestic appliances) and Intempo (audio).
The Group's products are sold to a
broad cross-section of both large national and international
multi-channel retailers as well as smaller national retail chains,
incorporating discount retailers, supermarkets, general retailers
and online retailers.
Founded in 1997, Ultimate Products
employs over 370 staff, a significant number of whom have joined
via the Group's graduate development scheme, and is headquartered
in Oldham, Greater Manchester, where it has design, sales,
marketing, buying, quality assurance, support functions and
warehouse facilities across two sites. Manor Mill, the Group's head
office, includes a spectacular 20,000 sq ft showroom that showcases
each of its brands. In addition, the Group has an office and
showroom in Guangzhou, China and in Paris, France.
Please note that Ultimate Products
is not the owner of Russell Hobbs. The company currently has
licence agreements in place granting it an exclusive licence to use
the "Russell Hobbs" trademark for cookware and laundry (NB this
does not include Russell Hobbs electrical appliances).
For further information, please
visit www.upplc.com.