Stoke-On-Trent-based homeware company Portmeirion Group, which trades under the Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester, Pimpernel, Wax Lyrical and Nambé brands, has reported an 'excellent' Christmas trading period with sales at an all-time high.
In a trading update, the group, which designs, manufactures and distributes its homewares worldwide, said that demand was very high during the seasonal trading period, with sales expected to be at least £104m or 10 per cent above current market expectation forecasts for FY21.
These figures are 18 per cent above 2020 sales of £87.9m and 12 per cent ahead of pre-Covid sales of £92.8m in 2019 and represent the groups highest ever level of sales, which the report said was driven was strong progress on its strategy in developing new sales channels, particularly online.
The company, which is expecting to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2021 on 17 March 2022, is now expecting its pre-tax profits for FY21 to be at least £7m, which is an increase of 9 per cent over current consensus market expectations, and a multiple increase compared to £1.4m in the previous year.
Portmeirion Group's chief executive, Mike Raybould, said the results are "a real testament to the changes we are driving through our business and the experience and efforts of our teams across the world".
He added: "The ongoing execution of our strategy allows us to reach more customers through investing in and developing online channels, launching new product and building-out new markets.
"Although our key seasonal sales period came later than usual due to global supply chain disruption affecting availability of stock, it finished very strongly, particularly in the US market. We are becoming an increasingly digital business and the new capabilities we have built to drop ship online orders continue to drive our business forward and should provide further opportunities for strong growth and improve margins in the future."
Raybould said the group is "mindful" of the ongoing pandemic risks and their potential impact on the sales market, adding: "We expect further growth in 2022 and with the current uncertainty will wait to update the market with detail on the outlook for the current financial year at the time of the preliminary results in March.
"Looking forward we continue to navigate these uncertainties and remain confident in our ability to improve margins over the longer term and grow the business strongly in the future."
Original article: Insider Media