TIDMVCP
RNS Number : 4460L
Victoria PLC
13 January 2021
For Immediate Release 13 January 2021
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
Victoria PLC
('Victoria', the 'Company', or the 'Group')
Record Performance for Q3 Trading
And
North America opportunity
December Quarter (Q3) Trading
The Board of Victoria PLC (LSE:VCP), the international
designers, manufacturers and distributors of innovative
floorcovering, is pleased to advise that the strong performance
Victoria announced for the first half-year to 3 October 2020 has
continued, with the Group achieving all-time record revenues and
operating profits for the third quarter to the end of December.
Despite the UK lockdown in November, which is normally the best
trading month of the year, and on-going Covid-related challenges in
some of our other markets, the Group's revenues were more than 10%
up on the prior year. This performance was due to three principal
drivers:
-- Firstly, Victoria's business is now highly diversified
geographically - generating nearly 75% of earnings and cash from
outside the UK. The Group sells its products to thousands of
flooring retailers across Europe, North America, the UK,
Australasia, and the Middle East.
-- Secondly, all of the Group's factories remained open
throughout the quarter, with full production schedules, and the
Group's logistics centres maintained deliveries to our customers to
satisfy demand, whilst providing a Covid-safe environment for our
staff.
The Company intends to continue operating from all of its sites
during the current quarter.
-- Finally, our strategic investment in logistics and
distribution in the UK, completed in late-2019, has provided
Victoria with a sustainable competitive advantage. The objective of
this investment was to improve our customer experience - enabling
retailers we supply to hold lower inventory levels (reducing their
working capital and warehousing costs), whilst still being
confident that product would be received when required for
installation. This service level has been made possible only by
Victoria's scale (the revenues and investment required precludes
most competitors from independently offering the same service), is
highly valued by retailers, and continues to drive an increased
'share of wallet' - as evidenced by our UK revenues increasing by
more than twice the estimated growth of the market overall. Despite
these gains our UK residential flooring market share is currently
only circa 15% and there is substantial headroom for continued
growth.
North America opportunity/Senior executive hire
North America is a significant existing end market for Victoria,
where the Group has been successfully selling and distributing its
products for more than a decade. As noted at the time of the
material investment by Koch Equity Development (November 2020), the
Board believes there is an opportunity to greatly increase our
distribution capabilities across North America. Koch Industries has
a long-standing interest in flooring via its INVISTA business and
the Stainmaster Brand.
To execute the opportunity, the Board is pleased to announce
that Roberto Moreno has joined the Group as Managing Director -
Strategic Investments and Corporate Development. Roberto's role
will involve working with other parties to source and diligence
potential growth opportunities.
Roberto is currently living in New York, where he was previously
the Chief Investment Officer for E.L. Rothschild and the Managing
Member of investment company, Pine Management. Prior to this,
Roberto was a Managing Director at Sandton Capital Partners. In
these roles he was responsible for originating and executing
investments, and management oversight of portfolio companies in
Europe and North America.
The Board looks forward to updating shareholders on progress in
North America in due course.
Executive Chairman Geoff Wilding commenting on the record performance said:
"Demand for flooring product is strong from consumers' renewed focus on investing in their
homes but we are outperforming the market generally and believe this to be both sustainable
and on-going due to the benefits of our unique service proposition. This is a direct result
of the substantial investment we made in our logistics platform during 2019.
Undoubtedly, the UK November lockdown had some impact on our performance - we would have done
even better without it - and the current lockdown may similarly impact the final quarter of
FY 21. However, Victoria has clearly shown its operational resilience by achieving record
revenues and earnings in the December quarter and the Board believes it is well placed to
meet this headwind."
For more information contact:Victoria PLC
Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman
Philippe Hamers, Group Chief Executive
Michael Scott, Group Finance Director +44 (0) 1562 749 610
N+1 Singer (Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker)
Rick Thompson, Phil Davies, Alex Bond +44 (0) 207 496 3095
Berenberg (Joint Broker)
Ben Wright, Mark Whitmore, Tejas Padalkar
Peel Hunt (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 203 207 7800
Adrian Trimmings, Andrew Clark
+44 (0) 207 418 8900
Buchanan Communications (Financial PR)
Charles Ryland, Chris Lane, Tilly Abraham +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
About Victoria
Established in 1895 and listed since 1963
and on AIM since 2013 (VCP.L), Victoria
PLC, is an international manufacturer and
distributor of innovative flooring products.
The Group, which is headquartered in Kidderminster,
UK, designs, manufactures and distributes
a range of carpet, flooring underlay, ceramic
tiles, LVT (luxury vinyl tile), artificial
grass and flooring accessories.
Victoria has operations in the UK, Spain,
Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia
and employs approximately 3,400 people
across more than 20 sites. Victoria is
the UK's largest carpet manufacturer and
the second largest in Australia, as well
as the largest manufacturer of underlay
in both regions.
The Group's strategy is designed to create
value for its shareholders and is focused
on consistently increasing earnings and
cash flow per share via acquisitions and
sustainable organic growth. (Further information
about Victoria can be found on its website,
www.victoriaplc.com.)
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