Posted on April - 22 - 2010
Styles & Wood office jobs lead way to recovery
Altrincham-based fit-out and refurbishment business Styles & Wood has clinched a contract with Lloyds Banking Group as it looks to grow revenues in its retail banking and office division to half of overall sales within the next couple of years.
They presently account for 27 per cent of turnover, with the rest generated by work in stores.
Chief executive Ivan McKeever said he sees an opportunity to increase market share in the sector, offsetting a decline in revenues from the retail market as store chains curb investment plans.
Other Styles & Wood clients in the office market include design studio BDP and property investment group Mapeley. Styles & Wood said retailers invested less during 2009, and he sees little growth before the end of 2010.
The retail slump meant revenues for 2009 plunged 43 per cent from £243.1m to £139.3m.
Styles & Wood posted pre-tax losses after refinancing and restructuring costs of £1.81m, up from £949,000 in 2008.
Styles & Wood strengthened its balance sheet with a capital restructuring which saw it raise £12.2m of new equity and agree a new banking facility of £10.9m.
The firm also shed scores of jobs, leaving it with a workforce of 263 – down from 421 in 2007.
Underlying pre-tax profits rose from £200,000 to £700,000 as gross margins rose from 4.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent.
Mr McKeever said he expects this year to be as challenging as 2009, with tough market conditions persisting.
He added: “Whilst retail will remain core to the business, we anticipate that the office fit-out and refurbishment market will recover earlier than other sectors.”
Shares in the company dived nearly 10 per cent after the announcement.
They fell 2.5p to 23p, partly due to profit-taking following a strong recent run.
Shore Capital analyst Robin Speakman said: “There’s little sign of a recovery even though Styles & Wood’s core clients in retail are seeing some positive like-for-likes, that is yet to feed through in terms of those clients’ spends.”
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