Victoria Carpets has revealed a 9.4 per cent rise in revenue in its first annual results since a bitter takeover battle.
Kidderminister-based Victoria (VCP) saw sales rise to £77.1 million in the year to March 31 this year, compared to £70.5 million the year before, after UK sales grew by more than 15 per cent.
The company, which was recently engaged in a boardroom battle which saw a consortium led by Alexander Anton, a descendant of its founder, emerge victorious, saw pre-tax profits increase by 14.7 per cent, to £1.55 million, across the year.
Meanwhile, the group revealed to the London Stock Exchange that it was planning to de-list from the main market to move to the alternative investment market.
Alan Bullock, group managing director, said: "Victoria has an excellent brand and we are determined to remain a leading quality flooring supplier in both Australasia and the United Kingdom. Plans have now been put in place and investments are being made to ensure we achieve these goals."
"We expect the consumer environment to remain challenging, but we have already demonstrated that we can achieve good progress in these conditions. Our strong customer relationships, on-going actions to reduce costs and improve working capital utilisation will provide us with a strong platform for medium term growth."
Chairman Katherine Innes Kerr, who took on the role after Mr Anton’s consortium seized control, added: "As the new financial year progresses, the benefits of the investment in the new products, together with the cost reductions and targeted improvements in working capital, should see stronger sales and profit growth in the second half of 2013 and in the following year."
The group saw Australian sales rise by 1.5 per cent across the year, compared to 15.4 per cent in the UK.
However, net debt increased in the year from £6.21 million to £7.75 million.
There have been a number of changes to the board during the year, with Alexander Anton, Sir Bryan Nicholson, Geoff Wilding and Ms Innes Kerr all being elected as non-executive directors.
Ms Innes Kerr added: "The economic outlook in all of the markets in which we operate remains uncertain, affecting consumer confidence, and we anticipate that we are unlikely to see any significant recovery in market conditions in the current financial year.
"To position the group for future growth, we are investing heavily in the first half of the financial year in new products in both the UK and Australia; the benefit of the additional sales from these new initiatives is not expected to be seen until the second half of the financial year. We are also incurring the cost of "right sizing" the spinning mills in Australia, whilst improving working capital utilisation and making further cost reductions.
"As the year progresses, the benefits of the investment in the new products, together with the improvements in working capital and the cost reductions, should result in stronger sales and profit growth in the second half of the current financial year and into the following year."
