Portmeirion Group PLC, the designer, manufacturer and worldwide distributor of homewares under the Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester, Pimpernel, Wax Lyrical and Nambé brands, has announced its results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Portmeirion experienced excellent trading in the first half with year-on-year sales growth of 35 per cent. Furthermore, the business has not only recovered to its pre-pandemic levels but is now exceeding them with sales up 24 per cent compared to two years ago in H1 2019.
The group has achieved record group revenue of £43.1 million, an increase of 35 per cent over the prior year (2020: £32.0 million) and 24 per cent over pre Covid-19 levels (2019: £34.9 million).
Like-for-like sales in constant currency are up 7 per cent against 2019 (“YO2Yâ€), ahead of pre Covid-19 levels despite ongoing disruptions, showing the strength of consumer demand and progress with our online strategy.
Dividends are set to be resumed for FY21 and following a strong first half of the year and with an expanding global order book, the group remains confident of achieving market expectations for FY21.
The group reported that they have made good progress in developing online and digital capabilities, including further investment in online platforms and fulfilment capabilities. They have also completed a number of automation investments in UK ceramic factory which will increase capacity to underpin future sales growth and margin improvements.
Mike Raybould, Chief Executive, said, “We have seen strong trading in the first half of the financial year, including a significant benefit from the focus on our online transformation strategy. Since the period end trading has continued that trend into the first two months of the second half of the financial year. Looking forward we continue to have a strong order book across our key markets. While we are cognisant of the ongoing, widely reported disruption and volatility in global supply chains we are confident the accelerated strategic investments we are making across our business will enable a strong path of growth in the next few years.
“I would like to thank all our employees for their exceptional resilience and tenacity in dealing with the daily ongoing challenges that Covid-19 presents whilst at the same time delivering on our strategy with considerable success. I am confident that the changes we are making to our business and the significant levels of new expertise we are adding will enable our brands to grow strongly in the coming years whilst we continue to develop much loved homeware products for our customers around the world.â€
