The UK division of German furniture components and fittings supplier Hafele has reported a slight decline in sales.
According to its latest filed accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024, total sales fell to £102.4m from £102.9m in 2023.
Pre-tax profit resulted at £4.5m, up from £1.9m recorded the previous year.
Stated within its report, the company said: “The ongoing economic challenges in the UK have curtailed our performance in 2024. Persistent high inflation and interest rates have continued to impact consumer confidence and spending in the markets we serve.
“As a result, revenue ended the year just below 2023 level. There were a few notable areas of growth; Our Häfele Service+ revenue grew by over £1m on prior year and we saw significant growth in our Own House Assortment ranges (i.e. Loox, Matrix, Metalla).
“However, some of the market sectors we operate in have not fared so well, namely Large Retail and Caravans, and we have experienced sharp declines in these sectors year on year.
“Gross margin has improved in 2024, largely due to the mix of customers, with our small Trade customers greatly outperforming our large Retail and Manufacturing customers. In addition, we saw a softening in vendor pricing, although this started to reverse as we approached year end.
“Overheads as a % of revenue rose in 2024, despite tight control of most of our costs, including a redundancy exercise in the first half of the year. The increase was largely due to enhanced computer systems (a response to the global 2023 cyber-attack). “Despite flat revenue, we have delivered a 57% increase in operating profit year on year.”
