Builders merchant Lords Group has reported a steady improvement in sales since February but H1 2026 revenue was still down nearly 5% on a year ago.
Lords Group Trading Ltd, reporting its H1 interim results on July 30, says the Merchanting division revenue was £112.3m (H1 2025: £117.7m million) for the period, with like-for-like revenues improving sequentially from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026.
Lords says that the revenue “encouragingly” improved to a reduced 2.3% decline in the second quarter when compared with the same quarter in the prior year.
“The Board is encouraged by these early signs of both improving customer activity and the benefits of actions taken to improve commercial performance,” it said.
“Management also continues to actively align the Merchanting cost base with prevailing market activity through ongoing reviews of branch costs, staffing levels and overheads, ensuring the business remains appropriately positioned for current trading volumes while retaining the capacity to benefit from an eventual market recovery.”
Lords says activity levels across the Group’s end markets continue to be below the comparative period in 2025 and, with no indications of a significant market recovery in the second half of 2026, the Board now expects full year Group annual revenue to be in the range of £475m-£495m and adjusted EBITDA for the full year will be £17m-£18m.
H1 Group revenue, including the plumbing and heating business, totalled £232m (H1 2025: £232.8m).
“Although the recovery in our end markets is taking longer than expected, we remain focused on cash generation, operational execution and delivering sustainable shareholder value as our markets recover,” commented Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer.
Lords distributes building materials, plumbing, heating and DIY products.
