Hornby losses narrow as it slams brakes on discounting
Model train set maker Hornby announced an end to its aggressive discounting on Thursday and the introduction of a profit share scheme for employees as it said losses narrowed in the first half of the year.
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In the six months to 30 September, underlying losses before tax narrowed to £3m from £4.6m the year before, while net debt was cut to £1.8m from £4.7m.
Hornby said the restructuring of its balance sheet earlier this year allowed it to reinforce its policy of not providing discounted items to meet short-term objectives. While this has dented sales, the group has benefited with higher margins.
It added that there is still an overhang of "incredibly low-priced" track being sold that needs to clear before its sales rates return to more normal levels.
Chief executive Lyndon Davies said: "Having slammed on the brakes as hard as we could to prevent further damage to the brands from discounting, the trust in the supply chain is starting to move in the right direction.
"Perhaps most importantly, our loyal employees are beginning to believe in the business again. There are some incredible products in the pipeline that will finally get us back on the front foot and give us the ability to take back the market share that we have given away."
Davies, who acknowledged that motivation and alignment had been an issue in the past for the business, announced a profit share scheme for its employees, which will mean that staff at all levels who contribute to the success of the business will share in the rewards.
The scheme, hailed by Hornby as "one of the most generous you will find", will see a one-off 5% bonus given for getting to breakeven and around 15% of operating profit shared between employees thereafter.
At 1150 GMT, the shares were up 5.5% to 34.30p.