Howden Joinery reported higher sales driven by a recent acquisition and said it remained on track to meet full-year expectations despite a softer economic backdrop.
The kitchens firm enjoys steady demand through economic headwinds, so it was no surprise to see a good set of numbers today from Howdens.
The UK’s largest trade kitchen supplier said group sales rose 6.8% from mid-June to the end of October, with its UK business also up 6.8%.
However, that was boosted by its acquisition of DIY Kitchens in June; stripping that out, UK sales grew a more modest 1.8%, reflecting challenging economic conditions.
The company said it had achieved record sales during TradeFest, its peak trading period, supported by new products.
Its international business grew strongly, and Howden said it expected full-year underlying pre-tax profit in line with market expectations.
Andrew Livingston, Chief Executive said: “Our trade only business has continued to grow supported by our highly engaged and well incentivised local teams, industry leading product ranges, and consistently high stock availability.”
“DIY Kitchens traded in line with our expectations. Its differentiated customer proposition and new route to market further expands our addressable customer base in the UK.
“Our on-going productivity and efficiency programmes are supporting competitive pricing across all our kitchen and joinery categories and are helping to mitigate inflationary pressures. We remain on track with the outlook for 2026.”
Howden Joinery shares were 2% higher at the time of writing.