Housing industry supplier Marshalls has reported a mixed set of results for the first half of the year due to what management called “weak end markets.”
However, despite weakness in the construction market over the past year, the company said it was “cautiously optimistic” about the future.
Marshalls announced revenue of £306.7m in the half-year ended 30th June, a 13 per cent fall from £354.1m in the first half of 2024.
Marshalls produces three types of products: building, roofing and landscape. Its landscape business, in particular, struggled during the period: revenue fell by 21 per cent to £137m.
Operating profit rose by eight per cent to £28.9m, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 14 per cent to £50.6m.
Earnings per share rose by 23 per cent to 6.4p.
Operating profit benefited from “decisive actions taken in 2023 to reduce costs and capacity”, the company said.
The company said it remained “cautiously optimistic” of a “modest recovery” in its end markets during the second half of the year, “predicated on a progressive improvement in the macro-economic environment”.
“The group has delivered a resilient performance in weak end markets… [it] demonstrates that the strategy of diversification, building on the group’s historic core Landscape Products business, through the acquisition and improvement of less cyclical businesses has resulted in a more balanced group,” chief executive Matt Pullen said.
“We are undertaking a review of the group’s strategy and have identified a number of opportunities to deliver outperformance over the medium term,” Pullen added.
“These include attractive sustainability-driven markets across bricks and masonry, water management and energy transition alongside a cyclical recovery in our core landscape and roofing businesses, supported by the new Government’s commitment to increase housebuilding significantly,” he said.