COLEFAX GROUP PLC
(“Colefax” or the “Group”)
Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 April 2025
Colefax is an international designer and distributor of furnishing fabrics & wallpapers and owns a leading interior decorating business. The Group trades under five brand names, serving different segments of the soft furnishings marketplace; these are Colefax and Fowler, Cowtan & Tout, Jane Churchill, Manuel Canovas and Larsen.
Key Points
- Sales increased by 2.6% to £109.99m (2024 – £107.16m) and by 4.2% on a constant currency basis
- Pre-tax profit increased by 15.1% to £8.90m (2024 – £7.73m) – mainly due to an exceptionally strong final quarter Fabric Division performance in the US as customers accelerated orders in advance of tariff increases
- Earnings per share increased by 22.8% to 108.4p (2024 – 88.3p)
- Share buyback returned £2.4m of surplus capital to shareholders in October 2024.
- Cash at 30 April 2025 of £22.3m (2024 – £17.8m)
- Fabric Division sales increased by 5.9% to £95.92m (2024 – £90.54m) and increased by 7.8% on a constant currency basis
- US sales increase by 12.9%, UK sales decreased by 4.7% and Europe sales increased by 6.5% (on a constant currency basis)
- Decorating Division sales down 17.0% to £11.22m (2024 – £13.51m) and pre-tax profit of £582,000 (2024 – £847,000 profit)
- Board is proposing a final dividend of 3.1p (2024 2.9p) making a total for the year of 5.9p (2024 – 5.6p) – an increase of 5.4%
David Green, Chief Executive of Colefax Group plc, said:
“The Group has delivered another good performance which has exceeded expectations due to a very strong surge in US sales during the final quarter of the year. We believe this is mainly exceptional and related to orders accelerated to avoid tariff increases. This has continued in the first two months of the current year during the pause in tariffs announced by the US government but we do not believe it is likely to be sustained”
Whilst our core Fabric Division business continues to perform well, we remain cautious about prospects and in particular the impact of higher tariff costs, a weaker US Dollar and lower Decorating Division profits”