Magnet Q1 sales decline in weakening UK market

Swedish kitchen manufacturing group Nobia has reported a worrying decline in UK sales in what it claims is a ‘weak’ market.

According to its Q1 financial update, their total UK sales declined 3.2% to £134.1m from £138.6m last year

The company stated that overall organic growth increased 6% due to its Commodore and CIE divisions reporting higher project sales. However, its Magnet chain in the UK experienced a sales drop due to lower sales within its Retail sector.

Nobia said that the UK kitchen market is ‘deemed to have weakened’ due to ‘heightened macro-economic uncertainty’.

 Read - Decline in kitchen business impacts on Bunnings/Homebase UK business.

Both gross profit and gross margin declined by 13% to £8.4m from £9.7m and down to 37.3% from £39.4% respectively, due to negative currency effects. Total currency losses totalled around £3m.

Download the full Q1 investor presentation here.

Nokia president and CEO Morten Falkenberg said: “Our UK operations grew in local currency, primarily as a result of temporarily high project deliveries, while consumer sales in Magnet declined. The UK kitchen market has weakened and price competition remains fierce.”

Source: Insight Team

Interested in news on the UK kitchen and bathroom market? Sign up for our weekly Insight DIY newsletter.