LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - James Latham had a strong start to the year after the timber and panels merchant reported a 10% increase in annual profit.


Pre-tax profit for the year to the end of March increased to £15.2m from £13.8m as revenue rose 8.1% to £214.9m. Excluding a £1.3m profit on the sale of a warehouse site, profit was little changed.

Chairman Nick Latham said company paid more to buy its products last year, partly because of the pound's fall against the euro and also because manufacturers increased prices. The company's gross margin narrowed to 17.6% from 18.2% but improved to 17.9% in the second half from 17.3% in the first half.

In the current financial year sales in April and May were up 9.8% on a year earlier and margins were "very slightly lower" than the second half of 2017/18, Latham added.

Latham said: "This year has started well ... We are seeing growth in sales of added value timber and panel products from our decision to invest in specialist sales staff last year, although volume growth in our core products is proving more challenging.

"Despite the strong start to the year, there is increasing uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, but we remain confident that we are in a strong position to continue to grow the business."

The final dividend will be 12.1p a share, taking the annual payout to 16.6p from 15.35p a year earlier.

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