James Latham Group has reported an upturn in sales for the last financial year. But an extraordinary pension charge and the cost of relocation to depots outside London helped reduce pre-tax profits by over £1m.
The importer and distributor achieved turnover of £91.8m in the 12 months to the end of March, a rise of 6.5%. The company’s main timber and sheet materials arm, Lathams Ltd , saw sales rise 7%, while dry lining, ceilings and partitioning specialist Nevill Long reported a 5% increase.
The pre-tax figure for the full year to March 31 2003 was £1.64m compared to £2.77 million the year before . The pre-tax interim figure reported in December 2002 was £1.34m.
Operating profit for 12 months fell to £1.395m from £2.4m in 2001/2002.
Chairman Roger Latham said: “Profits have been distorted by a number of exceptional costs that arose in the second half of the financial year. These included relocation costs of £348,000 from Clapton in London, to depots at Thurrock and Purfleet in Essex, as well as a SSAP24 pension charge of £737,000 for our employee pension scheme.”
A spokesperson for the group also said that the results were affected by the fact that the company had still not sold its old site in Clapton, East London.
Mr Latham, added: “Trading conditions for this year have certainly been more challenging than they were 12 months ago, but the results have given us a positive platform to build on in the future. Sales for the first quarter of the current financial year are ahead of the corresponding period last year.”
He added that new products taken on recently are expected to “bolster sales and boost sales margins”.
