Howden Joinery backs outlook, assumes flat UK kitchen market in 2026

Howden Joinery Group PLC on Thursday said it is "well prepared" for Autumn peak trading as it reported slightly higher sales and improved margins in the first half of its financial year.

The London-based kitchen and joinery supplier said pretax profit slipped 1.2% to £115.8 million in the 24 weeks to June 13 from £117.2 million a year prior.

Underlying operating profit grew 5.5% to £128.1 million from £121.4 million, with an operating margin of 12.4%, up from 12.2%. Gross profit margin climbed to 62.8% from 62.1% on-year.

Underlying results are stated before £6.4 million relating to acquisition costs. In June, the FTSE 100 listing completed the acquisition of DIY Kitchens for an enterprise value of £390 million.

Sales grew 3.3% to £1.03 billion from £997.6 million on-year. Basic earnings per share improved 2.0% to 5.1 pence from 5.0p, and by 5.5% to 17.3p from 16.4p on an underlying basis.

Howden Joinery said trading in the financial year to date has been in line with expectations.

"We are well prepared for Autumn peak trading and our full-year outlook is unchanged."

Planning assumes that the UK kitchen market will be level year-on-year in 2026, the firm said.

"We remain focused on balancing price and volume, alongside disciplined cost management including working with suppliers to mitigate input cost inflation," it added.

Shares in Howden Joinery were up 0.7% at 780.50p each in London on Thursday.

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