Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Builders merchant group Lords plc saw revenues rise 23.9% to £450m for the year ended December 31 2023, it was revealed to investors this morning.
The merchanting division in particular did well, posting revenues up 69.2% at £220.8m, with strong like-for-like growth of 17.4%.
Plumbing and heating revenues were -1.5% vs FY21 and -9.1% on a like-for-like basis, mainly due to industry wide boiler supply shortages faced in 2022
During the year, the group continued to expand its existing brands and grow its customer base, both by opening new branches, and adding implants to branches, such as the Advance Roofing Supplies implant into the Beaconsfield branch.
During 2022, the group completed four acquisitions, including AW Lumb; since the end of the year it has bought the freehold of George Lines’ Heathrow site, sold the non-core Lords at Home homewares subsidiary for £0.8m, and acquired Chiltern Timber Supplies
Shanker Patel, CEO of Lords, said: “This was an excellent year for the Group, as we continued to deliver on our IPO commitments and successfully grew the business in a tough trading environment.
“We entered 2023 in a strong financial position, which has enabled us to continue to invest in our 3Ps, as we pursue organic and acquisition-led growth opportunities. We are focused on the potential challenges to our business, notably the impact on household balance sheets from inflation, increased energy costs and interest rates.
“We are responding through our ongoing expansion into new geographical markets and product lines, and by implementing our ESG strategy, a key part of which is to enhance our energy efficiency.
“With a one per cent share of a large market and facility headroom available, we also have considerable scope to take share through further acquisitions that expand our geographical presence and product range. With around 40% of UK builders merchants still independently run, we have considerable scope for further consolidation and therefore see good opportunities to continue our track record of growth.”
