Cautious optimism from Cormar
June 14, 2024
Leading carpet company Cormar maintained its sales last year despite the challenging market conditions and says it's in a strong position and cautiously optimistic about the future.
Filing its accounts this week for the year ended 30 September 2024, the company showed sales stable at £147.8m (£148.1m in 2022) and pre-tax profit up a little at £5.9m (£5.6m in 2022).
"Demand for our carpet remained resilient throughout the year despite the squeeze on household income caused by high inflation and higher interest rates," said the company in its review of the business statement.
Cormar said that while volumes remained robust, margins were hit by high raw material costs and energy prices, and compounded by adverse exchange rates.
"Higher average selling prices, coupled with a recovery in sterling and tight cost control, improved operating margins in the second half of the year, helping full-year operating profit margins recover from their prior year lows," said the company. "The business finished the year with gross margin in a strong position, providing us with cautious optimism for the year ahead."
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