Victorian Plumbing Reports Record Order Volume

• Double digit growth in H1 with notable strength in tiles and flooring revenue

Victorian Plumbing Group plc (the "Group"), the UK's leading bathroom retailer¹, announces its results for the six months ended 31 March 2026 ("H1 2026" or "the period"), highlighting significant progress made against its strategic priorities.

Financial highlights

• Retail revenue¹⁰ (excluding MFI) growth of 9.2% to £166.7m (H1 2025: £152.7m); outperforming the wider RMI market¹¹ and reflecting ongoing market share gains.
  
  o  Order volume grew 12% to a record 609,000 orders (H1 2025: 542,000).
  
  o  Average order value ("AOV")¹² decreased by 3% to £274 (H1 2025: £282), as a result of an increase in tiles and flooring only orders. 
  
  
• Gross profit (excluding MFI) increased 9.3% to £83.7m (H1 2025: £76.6m).
  
  o  Gross profit margin (excluding MFI) maintained at 50.2% (H1 2025: 50.2%) through disciplined cost management, despite the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility tax from 1 April 2025 and a change in product category mix.
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA (excluding MFI) increased 11.8% to £17.0m (H1 2025: £15.2m) due to improved marketing efficiency.
  
  o  Including MFI, Group adjusted EBITDA maintained at £15.4m, (H1 2025: £15.2m) with Group adjusted EBITDA margin decreasing to 9.1% (H1 2025: 10.0%) due to the planned strategic investment in MFI.
  
  
• Operating profit increased 44.1% to £9.8m (H1 2025: £6.8m) primarily reflecting the non-recurring 2025 exceptional items associated with the warehouse transformation and the acquisition and closure of Victoria Plum.
  
  
•  Adjusted PBT decreased 20.3% to £9.4m (H1 2025: £11.8m) with adjusted PBT margin¹³ of 5.6%, reflecting the planned investment in MFI and a full six months of expense in H1 2026 vs. just three months in H1 2025 associated with the 20-year lease on the new distribution centre ("DC"). Adjusted diluted EPS was 2.3p (H1 2025: 2.8p).
  
  
• Free cash flow in line with prior year period at £12.9m (H1 2025: £12.9m) and operating cash conversion of 84% (H1 2025: 88%) reflecting continued strong working capital management, particularly during a period of investment in tiles and flooring and MFI.
  
  
• Strong closing net cash position of £21.2m (H1 2025: £10.9m), with a robust and debt free balance sheet (excluding lease liabilities).
  
  
• Interim ordinary dividend of 0.74p per share (H1 2025: 0.70p), representing a 5.7% increase; in line with our capital allocation policy.

Operational and strategic highlights

• Reinforced our position as the UK's number one bathroom retailer, which is testament to the strength of our brand, extensive range and availability.
  
  
• Further progress in strategic growth areas:
  
  o  Tiles and flooring revenue increased 84% to £14.0m (H1 2025: £7.6m), representing 8% of revenue (H1 2025: 5%), aided by infrastructure investment and enhancements in our customer proposition.
  
  o  Trade revenue grew 8% to £39.0m (H1 2025: £36.1m), representing 23% of revenue (H1 2025: 24%). Introduced third party trade credit option in February 2025 and further extended next day delivery cut-off to 17:00 in March 2026.
  
  
• Marketing spend reduced to 28.0% of Victorian Plumbing retail revenue, a reduction of 80 basis points (H1 2025: 28.8%).
  
  
• Victorian Plumbing Brand awareness¹⁴ improved to 73% (H1 2025: 72%).
  
  
• On 31 January 2026, Victorian Plumbing acquired Sovereign Transport Services Limited ("Sovereign") for £2.3m net of cash acquired.
  
  o  Sovereign is a transportation services business based in Merseyside, providing haulage services to the Group and to a small number of other goods-based businesses in the North of England.
  
  o This acquisition increases our control over customer fulfilment and supports medium-term transportation efficiencies.

MFI delivering solid progress

• Following the successful soft launch of MFI in July 2025 with an initial range of 600 SKUs, the product offering was expanded to over 5,500 SKUs across multiple homeware categories during H1 2026. Continued expansion remains a key strategic priority for management. Revenue of £0.5m reflects an acceleration in performance, aligned with the broadened product range.
  
  
• The response from customers continues to be very encouraging with an 'Excellent' Trustpilot rating and a score of 4.7¹⁵.

Current trading and outlook

• The Group has delivered mid-single digit revenue growth in the first six weeks of H2 2026, despite the widely reported subdued consumer sentiment driven by the Middle East conflict and its impact on discretionary spending.
  
  
• There have been no material cost increases to date, however, the Group remains vigilant to potential inflationary pressure, particularly from imports from China and energy prices.
  
  
• Despite factoring in a more subdued consumer environment for H2 2026, the Group anticipates full year revenue and adjusted PBT in line with current market expectations¹⁶.

Stephnie Judge, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"In delivering my first set of interim results as CEO, I am pleased to report a strong first half performance, with the Group achieving double digit revenue growth and continuing to deliver on its strategic growth ambitions. We have further strengthened our market share, reinforced our position as the UK's number one bathroom retailer, improved our marketing efficiency and grown brand awareness.

"Our state of the art distribution centre is enabling more efficient fulfilment and supports our growth ambitions across expansion categories, including trade, tiles and flooring. The progress made in MFI is also very encouraging.

"As a highly cash generative business with a strong balance sheet, we remain focussed on investing for long-term profitable growth and on increasing returns to shareholders. Despite the persistent macroeconomic uncertainty, we remain on track to deliver record full year revenue and profit expectations, and we are confident that our strategy will continue to deliver long-term value for all stakeholders.

"Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank every one of our team members, recognising that this strong first half performance is testament to their continued hard work and dedication"

Source : Victorian Plumbing Group plc

Image : Victorian Plumbing Group plc

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