Marshalls shares slump on guidance cut as LFL sales fall

Shares in Marshalls slumped on Tuesday as the landscaping and building materials group cut annual guidance on the back of a 14% fall in like-for-like sales, due to lower new house building and continued weakness in private housing maintenance activity.

In the first quarter of the year, National House Building Council new housing starts were 27% lower year on year, which hit all the group's reporting segments, Marshalls said on Tuesday, The stock was down almost 14% in early trade.

"Management have acted quickly to reduce costs in the business and are accelerating plans to improve production efficiency, whilst ensuring flexibility to respond when market demand improves," it added.

Total group revenue for the first four moths of the year was up 12% to £227m from a year ago helped by the acquisition of Marley Group last year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com