Arnold Laver sees 15% sales drop in 2020, reports stronger trading this year
18 August 2021UK nationwide timber products distributor Arnold Laver has reported a 15% decrease in its annual sales to £123.4m due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. But trading in 2021 is performing strongly.
Arnold Laver said the onset of the pandemic severely impacted trading in April and May, 2020 and then to a lesser extend the remainder of the year.
“As a result of business restructuring undertaken in 2020 and an improvement in trading conditions, the current financial year has started very strongly,” said director Patrick Guest on behalf of the Arnold Laver board in the company’s full accounts for the year ended December 31, 2020.
“Early indications show that 2021 revenue and profit are on track to outperform 2019 levels,” he said.
An operating profit of £2.8m was recorded for 2020, down from £3.2m in 2019, before amortisation of goodwill and after charging £2m of additional costs associated with central group support. The records show a pre-tax loss of £1.7m (2019: £1.9m pre-tax profit).
Three new Timberworld depots were opened in 2020 – Croydon, Cannock and Milton Keynes – and a further depot has been added in 2021 through the acquisition of Hymor Timber Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent.
The company has also introduced the ALCO brand to grow sales of its specialist timber products into second-line merchants and other key resellers.
Arnold Laver has rebranded its manufactured door and joinery business to Intelligent Door Solutions, while National Timber Systems covers the engineered wood products businesses.
The company says it is committed to investing in value-added production capacity to support its growth plans and deliver product solutions for customers.
