Europe and US drive growth at Walker Greenbank

Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank was holding its annual general meeting on Wednesday morning, with Terry Stannard set to update shareholders on the progress made by the business so far this year.

The AIM-traded company’s chairman said that, in the first four and a half months of the current financial year, brand sales were up 4.5% in reportable currency and up 1.1% in constant currency, with sales in Europe and the US outperforming the UK, where sales were in line with the same period last year.

Brand sales excluded Clarke & Clarke, which continued to trade in line with the board's expectations and remained an “exciting addition” to Walker’s portfolio, according to Stannard.

“Licence income continues to perform strongly, and is benefiting from the new licensing agreements signed in the prior financial year.

“Our two manufacturing sites both have improving order books and have recently started to print for the Clarke & Clarke and Studio G brands.

“There has been a noticeable increase in export orders from new customers at both sites, though it is too early to predict the strength of this trend.”

Stannard said the board was also “pleased” to announce the final settlement of Walker Greenbank’s insurance claim following the flood at its fabric printing factory in December 2015.

He said the company expected to receive the final payment of £2.4m by its half-year end, bringing the total amount received in respect of the claim to £19.3m.

“The current financial year is set to mark a step change in Walker Greenbank's financial performance as it will include a full year's contribution from the Clarke & Clarke acquisition,” Stannard added.

“Whilst today's AGM comes at a time of political and economic uncertainty in the UK, at this early stage of our financial year we continue to expect to meet Board expectations for the full year.”