Marshalls expectations unchanged despite UK housing market slowdown
Expectations for Marshall remains “unchanged” despite a UK housing market slowdown causing a slew of job cuts and factory shutdowns earlier this summer.
The building products supplier today provided investors with a trading update for the nine months ending on 30 September, with a revenue of £528m, down three per cent from this time last year.
Marshalls has also experienced a fall on a like-for-like basis, with an overall decline of 12 per cent, with nine per cent being in the third quarter.
As of 9 am today, Marshall’s share price was up seven per cent to 212p per share.
“Decisive” measures were taken to “improve agility and right-size the business,” the Group said, such as closing a factory, reducing shifts, and reorganising its commercial team, much like what was announced in its half year results.
In July, Marshalls announced 250 job cuts and a factory shutdown in Scotland, which followed closely with a housing and building market slowdown.
Trying to keep up and pick up momentum within struggling months, these actions are anticipated to deliver annualised savings of approximately £9m.
Elsewhere in the housing market this morning, there was less optimism. Housebuilder Barratt Developments warned that the outlook for the year remains uncertain as it continues to be battered by a tough buyer market offset by unruly inflation.
In the three months to October, the London-listed firm said it only built 9,221 homes down from 13,000 compared to the same period last year.