Revenue at LED lighting specialist Luceco grew beyond expectations during the first half of its financial year as easing inflation helped to stabilise prices.
The London-listed firm, which is headquartered in Telford, saw its sales increase to £109.6m in the six months ending 30 June, 2024, up from £101.1m in the same period last year.
This boost in revenue helped to bump up its pre-tax profit to £8.7m, compared to £6.2m in the first half of 2023.
Luceco said this growth had been aided by the easing cost of materials, which had helped to mitigate the impact of high sea freight prices and continued wage inflation.
It added that following a period of post-pandemic destocking that its customers had “returned to more normalised purchasing patterns”.
In February the group acquired the Tyne and Wear-headquartered supplier, D-Line, which it said would help it to grow its business in North America, due to its Kentucky distribution site.
The newly-acquired company generated revenue of £17m in the 12-month period ending 30 November, 2023, and underlying operating profit of £1.4m.
‘Strong results despite challenging market’ – Luceco boss
Luceco CEO John Hornby said:”These are strong results despite a challenging market backdrop.
“The goup’s diverse portfolio and channels have ensured that we continue to grow and achieve a good financial performance, with adjusted operating profit up 17 per cent in H1 2024.
“We are successfully integrating D-Line, which we acquired in February 2024 and we expect it to add circa £15m of sales in 2024.
“The balance sheet remains strong with debt levels at the lower end of our target range, giving us flexibility to continue to invest in new organic and M&A opportunities in line with our capital allocation policy.”
Lececo said that given its strong performance in the first half of the year, it was on track to deliver full-year results in line with expectations.