Marshalls revenue growth slows as clients hold off on orders

The company said revenue for the period was up 1% to £120m against strong comparatives for 2015, reflecting a slight softening in commercial sales over the last two months.

Marshalls said it has maintained its market share although some customer projects have been delayed due to short-term uncertainty in the wider economy.

Sales in the public sector and commercial end market, which represented around 64% of total sales, were in line with the previous year, while sales in the domestic end market were up 4%.

The company said it remains well placed to deliver the growth initiatives set out in the 2020 strategy and continues to derive benefits from its operational gearing together with driving through sustainable cost reductions and improvements in operational efficiency.

It expressed confidence it will achieve its expectations for 2016, adding that the outlook continues to be positive.

At 0940 BST, shares were down 9% to 315.50p.

N+1 Singer said: “It looks like they have been impacted to some extent by Brexit uncertainty with decision-making on projects delayed but still confident of hitting FY expectations assisted by margin performance."

It added that with the stock trading on a high-teens rating a drop in the shares was likely.