Kidderminster carpet manufacturer Victoria has seen profits and turnover rise in the full year and in a sign of confidence in its trading position it plans to pay an interim dividend in November.
Operating profit was up 23.9 per cent to £4.19 million and profit before tax was £3.51 million against £2.76 million in the previous 12-month period.
Earnings per share are up 26.3 per cent to 36.54p. The board is recommending a dividend of 14p a share up from 12.5p.
Alan Bullock, group managing director, said: “Introducing an interim dividend effective from November will be the first for many years and it is a statement of our confidence in the business. We have announced a pleasing set of results.”
Victoria’s carpet manufacturing business in Austrialia accounts for 46 per cent of the total revenue and the UK 44 per cent. Growth last year in Australian revenue was up 20.1 per cent to £28.48 million while the operating profit increased by 46.5 per cent to £3.05 million. The company also has operations in Ireland and Canada.
"We are not telling the market that anything is wrong and the Australian market is buoyant,” he said. “We are making a major investment in our Australian operations worth about £4.2 million and that is to increase our capacity and meet the market demand. We are forecasting that we shall grow our business during the coming year.”
Mr Bullock said the upward financial swing had been the result of a big effort to be better than Victoria’s competitors linked with a tight control on margins.
