Victoria to deliver tenth year of growth
Victoria’s strong sales sales growth means it will have sold more than 200 million square metres of flooring (nearly 30,000 football fields) for the first time in the Company's history for the year ended 1 April 2023.
In a full year trading update ahead of the group’s results announcement in July, Victoria plc said: “Despite challenging macro-economic conditions, Victoria PLC, is set to deliver its tenth consecutive year of revenue and underlying operating profit growth with revenues for the year ended 1 April 2023 of more than £1.45 billion, alongside continued growth in underlying operating cashflow.”
It added: “Whilst the Group is not immune to the external factors that impact consumer demand or inflationary pressures, the Board is confident that Victoria's inherently low operational gearing, combined with price increases (where essential), cost savings, and tight supply chain management, will mitigate the financial impact of any macro-economic uncertainty in the year ahead.”
Victoria also said the integration of the rugs and UK carpet divisions of Balta Group which they acquired in April 2022 was “proceeding successfully” and it expects to achieve “synergy gains of no less than €15 million per annum.”
Outlining some of the detail for this operation, Victoria said Balta's carpet manufacturing were being reloacated from Belgium to the Group's more modern and more productive UK factories in Wales and Yorkshire, with a net reduction of 295 employees. 80% of Balta's carpet is sold in the UK, Europe's largest carpet market, and this move will enable Balta to sell the same historical quantity (c. € 100 million revenue per annum), but with lower production and transport costs alongside improved customer service from shorter delivery times.
The consolidation of the Balta rug manufacturing operation onto Victoria's large site at Sint-Baafs Vijve, Belgium, with the closure of the nearby factory at Avelgem, together with the relocation of some production to Usak, Turkey, where the Group has two very modern rug and yarn extrusion factories. These changes will improve efficiency and lower production costs, with the same output.
