Bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing Group has revealed that its revenue increased by around 4% in its latest trading update, which covers the year ending 30th September 2024. It says that revenue decreased approximately 1% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of the acquisition of Victoria Plum, and that adjusted EBITDA for 2024 is ‘anticipated to be in line with market expectations’.
The update reported a ‘record’ 1,021,000 orders were delivered in the year, up on 932,000 in 2023. Customers, it says, are increasingly choosing its own-brand products, which has reduced the average order value by around 5%. However, it says that this has been ‘more than offset’ by ‘strong gross margin gains’, which increased 300bps to 50%.
In August, Victoria Plumbing announced that it planned to close online-only retailer Victoria Plum, which it acquired on 17th May 2024. In its trading update, it says that Victoria Plum contributed around £15m of revenue and incurred an adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately £2m in the period since acquisition. It says it has now finalised a consultation process with Victoria Plum’s workforce and will close the business and its operations in Doncaster by 31 December 2024.
The Group has also confirmed that its new 544,000sq ft semi-automated distribution centre in Leyland, Lancashire, is now operational and that over half of all daily orders are now being dispatched from the new site. Itt expects all orders to be dispatched from the new distribution centre by the end of the calendar year.
Mark Radcliffe, CEO of Victorian Plumbing, said: "I am pleased with the Group's performance in FY24, which has been a very busy year for Victorian Plumbing. We have increased profitability, as our higher margin own brand proposition continues to resonate with customers and consolidated our leading position as the UK's number one bathroom retailer. At the same time, we have delivered a year of transformational change with significant investment in our people, technology and operations.
"Our state of the art new distribution centre is now operational and will remove previous capacity constraints, enabling us to serve customers more efficiently and execute on our strategic growth plans in our expansion categories and our trade proposition. Moreover, the recent decision to close Victoria Plum provides the Group with a significant opportunity to accelerate growth and continue to further the investment in our brand and marketing.
"This positive momentum and the successful delivery of our warehouse transformation reaffirms confidence in our profitable growth strategy that is delivering long-term value for all stakeholders."
