John Lewis of Hungerford board treading carefully amid uncertain conditions

Investors in manufacturer, designer and retailer of fitted kitchens, kitchen furniture and bedroom furniture John Lewis of Hungerford - not related to the national retail partnership of the same name - were told that the company was still proceeding cautiously amid uncertain trading conditions at its annual general meeting in London on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm had said in its annual report that, due to a higher than usual level of building projects completing in the early autumn, sales for the first half of the current financial year were expected to perform ahead of the previous year by approximately 11%.

It said on Tuesday that its current sales and order book stood at £4.6m, ahead of £4.3m at the same time last year, with a similar forward order book of £1.5m, in line with last year’s figure.

“We remain cautious in this increasingly difficult economic climate and are working hard to ensure the business continues to show growth year on year,” said chairman Gary O'Brien.

“We are still anticipating a loss in the first half year, in line with our expectations, due to the seasonality of the business, although it should show an improvement over last year.”