Walker Greenback to meet expectations despite flood setback

Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank posted a trading update for the year to 31 January on Tuesday, saying the results were expected to be in line with the board's expectations.

The AIM-traded company confirmed they will include a first-time contribution from Clarke & Clarke, which was acquired at the end of October.

It said it was pleased with progress at Clarke & Clarke, which continued to perform in line with board expectations.

“In addition to the profit contribution from Clarke & Clarke, profit before tax will include received and anticipated insurance payments relating to the flood in December 2015 at Standfast & Barracks, the Company's fabric-printing business,” the board confirmed in a statement.

“During the year, the company received a total of £15.3m in insurance payments relating to the flood for damage to assets and loss of profits.”

Group sales for the year, which reflected the impact of the flood, were expected to be £92.4m - compared to £87.8m for 2016 - including sales of £7.3m from the first 18 weeks of ownership of Clarke & Clarke.

Brand sales excluding Clarke & Clarke were up 1.5% in reportable currency, or down 2.2% in constant currency, compared with the previous year and were adversely impacted by the flood.

In the UK, brand sales were down 4.1%, while US brand sales were up 8.3% in reportable currency but down 5.2% in constant currency, Western Europe brand sales were up 22.4% in reportable currency and up 7.9% in constant currency, and Rest of World brand sales were up 3.2% in reportable currency and up 0.3% in constant currency.

“The company's manufacturing performance was affected by the flood for much of the year although the impact was mitigated by the insurance payments.

“As previously announced, Standfast & Barracks is back in full production and the company's Milton Keynes warehouse is fully stocked with the company's printed textiles.

“The construction of flood defences to protect the Standfast & Barracks factory was recently completed.”

Walker Greenbank said it intends to announce its results for the year ended 31 January on 26 April.