Annual profits fall for timber merchants

The business, which has its West Midlands warehouse at Yorks Park, Dudley, also saw revenue decline 10.2 per cent from £408.3 million in 2022-2023 to £366.5m.

Pre-tax profits were down from £44.5m to £30.3m.

Chairman Nick Latham said normal market conditions had returned following three years of unprecedented challenges and opportunities, which had provided the group with exceptional profits.

He said that the shipping attacks in the Red Sea had an adverse impact on container rates.

"The impact of inflation and higher interest rates has continued to be challenging with negative consumer confidence levels for much of the year affecting outputs in some of our key sectors. Construction has had a challenging year, and although this does not directly affect us, many of our larger manufacturing customers supply product into this sector. The strength of our results are testament to the depth and breadth of our customer base and the diverse market sectors within which we operate," he added.

The board has declared a final dividend of 26p per ordinary share with the total dividend 33.75p for the year.

Mr Latham said current trading was consistent with the second half of 2023-2024.

"The majority of our customers have improved order books and are feeling more positive than this time last year. However certain sectors, such as the merchant sector, are still finding the market place challenging.

"We are seeing significant container freight rate increases at the moment which will increase our cost prices. This affects about 25 per cent of our products and we expect that the market price of these products will increase to compensate for this," he added.

The business plans to continue to invest in its current warehouse facilities.