Howden Joinery sees FY pre-tax profit 10% above analyst range

Kitchen and joinery products supplier Howden Joinery said on Wednesday that full-year pre-tax profit was set to be around 10% above the top end of current analyst forecasts following continued strong trading.

Analysts are expecting 2020 pre-tax profit of between £123m and £152m.

In a brief trading statement, the FTSE 250 company said that since its update in early November, trading has continued to be strong. Total revenue for Howdens UK depots for the period from 1 November to 28 November was up 18.8% and 17.2% higher on a same depot basis. For the year to date, total UK revenue was down 5.1% from 2019.

Howden said guidance on gross margin was unchanged.

The company is due to release its 2020 preliminary results, including an update on market conditions, on 25 February 2021.