British tap and bathroom accessory maker Samuel Heath said its sales had “turned out considerably better than the board had feared” thanks to a surge in orders in the final few months of its financial year.
The London-listed company saw its sales for the year ending March 30, 2024, reach £15.24m, a 3.5 per cent increase from £14.72m in the 12 months prior.
Its pre-tax profit however still came in “below budget” at £884,000, compared to just over £1m in the year before.
Birmingham-headquartered Samuel Heath said its management had taken actions to trim costs and improve efficiency which had resulted in an improvement in gross profit margin from 44.8 per cent in the first half to 48.5 per cent in the second half, bringing its full year figure to 46.6 per cent compared to 46 per cent in the 12 months before.
The company added that an easing of the “very high utility costs” also contributed to better second half performance, although the year overall still saw a significant utility cost increase of £203,000, up 24 per cent year on year.
The directors recommended a final dividend of 8.56p per share compared to 7.56p in the year before.
‘We are mindful of our customers’ concerns’ – Samuel Heath chair
Non-executive chair Anthony Buttanshaw said: “The order book has held up reasonably well during the first few months of the new financial year.
“We have seen a number of projects that were on hold come to fruition amidst a more positive environment, although our UK customers are expressing concern about the impact of political change on their client base, particularly for international clients with multiple homes, who are in some cases waiting to see where best to invest in their property.
“Although we have seen a good start to the new financial year, we are mindful of our customers’ concerns and are budgeting cautiously, while allowing sufficient flexibility should trade remain consistently positive.
“Recruitment has been less difficult than in 2023 and we are pleased to welcome a number of highly skilled new colleagues to the company.
“We are also taking delivery of a further high specification CNC lathe in July which will help drive efficiency in our machine shop and new product development. The problems experienced last year with machine breakdowns and inefficiency are now much less frequent.”