Cormar boosted by post-lockdown surge
February 16, 2021
A "strong re-start and unprecedented demand" after the first lockdown boosted the financial performance of leading UK manufacturer Cormar Carpets despite an overall reduction in sales.
Filing its accounts for the 12 months ended 30 September 2020, the company said they were "very pleased with the financial performance in 2019/20 which presented the most challenging of trading environments seen for decades."
"Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic resuliting in a 10-week shutdown, the business saw a strong re-start and unprecedented demand for our products in the final three months of the [financial] year [July to September 2020]," said Cormar.
Pre-tax profits jumped to £8.5m from £2.3m in the previous year. though full year sales fell 14% to £111.6 million. Cormar said the improvement in profits was due to the benefits of better raw material procurement and wider cost control measures in addition to the sales surge after the first lockdown.
The company credited the sales surge to three factors: the release of pent-up demand across all channels; the return of housebuilding and the impact of government support for house sales; and the effect of increased remote working and the emergence of the ‘staycation’ as consumers did not take holidays and “invested in home improvements on a scale not experienced before.”
The company’s statement concluded: “Given our experience of trading in such an environment, the ongoing level of demand, the strength of our management team and workforce lied to the strong financial position of the business, the board believes [we] are in a strong position to satisfy demand when the restrictions are lifted and see no material impact on the performance of the business in the next 12 months.”
The company’s statement concluded: “Given our experience of trading in such an environment, the ongoing level of demand, the strength of our management team and workforce lied to the strong financial position of the business, the board believes [we] are in a strong position to satisfy demand when the restrictions are lifted and see no material impact on the performance of the business in the next 12 months.”
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