Victoria Plc (VCP.L), a flooring products maker, said on Tuesday that it expects a decline in revenue for the first half, mainly due to continued soft demand.
For the six-month period to October 1, the company expects to report underlying EBITDA of around 50 million pounds, compared with 95.8 million pounds, posted for the same period last year.
Revenue is anticipated to be around 580 million pounds, lower than 648.5 million pounds a year ago.
Philippe Hamers, Victoria's Chief Executive, , said: "The flooring sector is experiencing the most severe and longest decline in demand in the last 30 years. During this period, we have focussed on optimising productivity and reducing operational costs whilst maintaining the same potential production capacity. These actions will have a very material positive impact on earnings and cash flow as demand normalises with the anticipated improvement in the macro-economic environment and increase in housing transactions, a key driver of demand."
These actions are expected to increase earnings upside with the anticipated demand recovery, each 5 percent increase in volume is additionally expected to drive a 25 million pounds increase in Victoria's earnings.
The Board expects its second half trading to be stronger with a small improvement in demand, although earnings are likely to be below consensus expectations.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com