Full Year 2024 Howden Joinery Group PLC Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Group sales increased by 47% compared to 2019, demonstrating strong growth post-COVID.
- Howden Joinery Group PLC (HWDJF) gained market share in the UK, mitigating a decline in the overall kitchen market.
- The company maintained an industry-leading gross margin of 61.6%, showing year-on-year improvement.
- Strong operating cash flow and a robust balance sheet allowed for continued investment in growth and increased dividends.
- A new GBP100 million share buyback program was announced, reflecting confidence in the company's financial health.
- The overall kitchen market is expected to contract in 2025, presenting a challenging environment.
- Operating costs increased by GBP28 million due to ongoing investments, impacting profitability.
- Revenue on a same depot basis was down 1.2% in the UK, indicating challenges in maintaining growth.
- The international division, particularly in France, has yet to reach break-even, with expectations pushed to 2026 or 2027.
- The EBIT margin is at its lowest level in nearly 15 years, highlighting pressure on profitability.
Welcome to Howden's 2024 results presentation. I will start by introducing our performance for the year. Paul Hayes will then review our financial results for the period. I will then share my perspective on our performance and outline our plans for this year, and then we'll look forward to taking your questions.
The business performed well in as we anticipated a challenging marketplace. The results met our expectations as we continued with our investment program, which is focused on our key capabilities, which gives us end to end a stronger business. Group sales were ahead of those in 2023 and were 47% up on 2019 being the year prior to the onset of the COVID.
In the UK we believe we gained market share, which helped us mitigate a significant single digit decline in the overall size of the kitchen market. Entry level kitchens represented a higher proportion of the kitchens we sold with sales of product in our kitchen categories collectively outperforming those of other established categories. We
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