Nationwide trade-only joinery products supplier Howdens Joinery has posted a 5% sales increase for the final quarter of 2011.
Total sales for 2011 were up 5.5% to £838.7m (2010: £795.1m), rising 3.1% on a same depot basis.
The company, whose main products are kitchens, doors, joinery, mouldings and flooring, said it was encouraged by its 2011 performance but remained cautious about the outlook for 2012 due to continued uncertainty about prospects for the UK economy.
“In the short term, it should be noted that we will not be repeating last year’s initiative to target the busy post-Christmas trading period of the non-trade kitchen market, which pulled sales forward in to the first two periods of 2011,” it said.
Howdens estimates its 2011 annual profits will be in the £103m-111m range.
Branch numbers increased by 20 in 2011, bringing the total to 509.
The company manufactures all its kitchen cabinets at its own production facilities in Runcorn, Cheshire and Howden, East Yorkshire, using Egger FSC-certified chipboard. Egger also supplies the raw materials for Howdens’ worktops and a number of kitchen frontals.
