AGM Statement

Lords Group Trading PLC

20 June 2023

 

For immediate release

20 June 2023

Lords Group Trading plc

('Lords', the 'Group' or the 'Company')

AGM Statement

Lords, a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, announces that at the Company's Annual General Meeting ('AGM') due to be held today at 1:00 pm (BST) at the offices of Cenkos Securities, 6-8 Tokenhouse Yard, London EC2R 7AS, Gary O'Brien, the Group's Independent Non-Executive Chairman, will make the following statement:

"Since the release of our full year results on 3 May 2023, the resilient trading performance of the Group has continued and we maintain expectations for full year trading performance for the year ended 31 December 2023 ('FY23') to be in line with market expectations⁽¹⁾.

"Whilst a persistently negative macroeconomic backdrop and uncertain interest rate environment has persisted throughout FY23 and has impacted consumer sentiment, our diverse product offering and end-customer base combined with our carefully executed M&A strategy has meant that softer demand in some segments of the business year to date have been offset by robust performance in others.

"In Merchanting, we continue to expand our geographical presence and broaden our product range, as was illustrated by the acquisition of Chiltern Timber Supplies in April 2023. In Plumbing & Heating, the Group has scope to increase our Mr Central Heating offering to 50 branches nationwide over the next five years, whilst also expanding our product range and margins through the inclusion of additional products such as air source heat pumps and underfloor heating.  The demand for which will be underpinned with the obligation to de-carbonise the built environment in the medium term.

"All acquisitions executed in FY22, as well as Chiltern Timber Supplies, are performing in line with our expectations at the time of acquisition and the pipeline of M&A opportunities remains strong. Following the refinancing of our facilities on 6 April 2023, we have financial headroom to expand on our less than 1% market share by being one of the few acquirers of choice in the market."

⁽¹⁾ Lords Group calculated analyst consensus for FY23 of revenue of £473.9 million, adjusted EBITDA of £31.0 million and adjusted profit before tax of £17.9 million.

- Ends -

FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

Lords Group Trading plc		Via Buchanan
Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer		Tel: [phone]
Chris Day, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)		Tel: [phone]
Ben Jeynes / Max Gould / Dan Hodkinson (Corporate Finance)
Alex Pollen (Sales)
Berenberg (Joint Broker)		Tel: [phone]
Matthew Armitt / Richard Bootle / Detlir Elezi
Buchanan Communications		Tel: [phone]
Henry Harrison-Topham / Jamie Hooper / Abby Gilchrist	[e-mail]

Notes to editors:

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY goods.  The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to the general public.  The Group operates through the following two divisions:

·   Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of merchant businesses and online platform capabilities.  It operates both in the 'light side' (building materials and timber) and 'heavy side' (civils and landscaping), through 26 locations in the UK.

·   Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the general public. The division offers its customers an attractive proposition through a multi-channel offering.  The division operates over 16 locations enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

Lords was established over 35 years ago as a family business with its first retail unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has grown to a business operating from 42 sites.  Lords aims to become a £500 million turnover building materials distributor group by 2024 as it grows its national presence.

Lords was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2021 with the ticker LORD.L.  For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk.

 

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