Headlam accelerates 'transformation' plan amid decline in sales
Headlam Group PLC on Thursday said there are signs of improvement in market conditions but cautioned the recovery is taking longer than hoped.
The Birmingham, England-based floor coverings distributor said revenue fell 4.7% in the four months to April on-year, although sales improved sequentially through the period.
The revenue decline narrowed to 1.4% in April, from 6.6% in January, the firm said in a trading statement.
Headlam said there are some ‘encouraging signs’ of market conditions improving and ‘we are also seeing early signs of the benefits of the changes we have been making to our sales organisation.’
But given the market is taking ‘longer than expected to improve, we are accelerating and increasing the scale of the transformation plan to grow revenue and reduce costs.’
Headlam said it is making good progress on its transformation plan commencing ‘optimisation’ in the Midlands, with the closure of the Nottingham distribution centre expected to be completed in the third quarter. Operations will be consolidated into nearby Coleshill and Tamworth distribution centres.
Overall, and despite the ‘cautiously improving market outlook’, Headlam expects the underlying pretax loss for 2025 to be ‘significantly’ weighted towards the first-half, with the second-half supported by an improving market backdrop and the impact of the transformation plan.
In 2024, the company reported an underlying pretax loss of £34.3 million.
Shares in Headlam fell 1.5% to 92.60 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
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