Headlam: Flooring sales slump as Brits spend less on home improvements

British flooring specialist Headlam has had a challenging six months as it says people are spending less on home improvement projects, driving a slump in its revenue.

The London-listed company’s revenue was down just under 12 per cent year on year in the six months ending June 2024, driven by a decrease of 11 per cent in UK sales and almost 16 per cent in the rest of Europe.

Headlam said this reflected the “”ongoing weakness in the floor coverings market” throughout the first half of this year, driven by continued decline in consumer spending on home improvements.

As a result the Birmingham-headquartered company saw its pre-tax loss hit £16m during the six month period.

Despite the challenging market conditions Headlam said that it had seen progress with its strategic growth initiatives, with revenue from trade counters growing to more than £100m for the year so far.

Headlam chief executive Chris Payne said: “While current market conditions remain challenging, we are pleased with the early progress we have made on accelerating our simplification and integration of the business together with the development of exciting improvements to our customer offer and service.

“We remain confident that our strategy, and the changes we are making, will strengthen Headlam over the medium term, ensuring that we are well placed to take the opportunity when the market recovers.”

Headlam said it expected to see an improvement in trading in the second half of its financial year “assuming market conditions gradually improve” but added that it didn’t anticipate the market to return to growth until 2025.

On that basis the company said it expected to continue to trade in line with expectations.

In March shares in Headlam fell sharply after it lowered its annual profit guidance significantly below market estimates.  

The company sought to reassure investors by announcing it expects a significant one-off cash benefit from disposal of surplus property and working capital reduction over the next 18 months.