Victorian Plumbing has announced that it expects its full-year profit performance to be in line with expectations.
In its latest trading statement ahead of its AGM today, the online bathroom retailer said that in the first 21 weeks of its 2024 financial year it saw a reduction in average order values of 3% as customers continued to seek value for money by buying proportionately more own-brand products.
Victorian Plumbing added that despite unchanged market conditions, it continued to make market share gains with order volumes up 4% year on year. This, it said, more than offset the reduced average order values.
For the year to date, the online retailer reported that it had seen revenue growth of 1%.
It said that the increase in own-brand sales continued to help the group improve its gross margin and predicted full-year adjusted profits (EBITDA) in line with market expectations.
The company also said that it was making good progress towards opening its new 544,000sq ft distribution centre in Leyland, Lancashire, which will address current capacity constraints. It is expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2024.
Interim results for the six months ending March 31 will be announced on May 28.
In its 2023 financial year to September 30, Victorian Plumbing reported sales of £285.1 million, up 6% from £269.4m in 2022. Adjusted profits (EBITDA) were £23.8m, up 22% from £19.5m the year before. Order volume grew by 6% to 932,000, while average order values were flat year on year.