(Reuters) – Britain’s Eurocell, the maker and distributor of window, door and PVC roofline products, said on Tuesday it expects near-term outlook to remain “challenging”, hurt by subdued activity in home repair and improvement market.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT?
Companies such as Eurocell, which have significant exposure to the housing sector, have been grappling with challenging market conditions for most of last year as elevated interest rates and macroeconomic difficulties dented consumer sentiment. This has led to a reduction in non-essential spending, including those for home repair, maintenance and improvement works.
In her October budget, UK finance minister Rachel Reeves confirmed that a key tax benefit for first-time homebuyers will cease from April this year.
BY THE NUMBERS
Eurocell’s group sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024 were 358 million pounds ($445.1 million), down 2% on the prior year.
The company also estimated additional costs of about 3 million pounds per annum stemming from employers’ National Insurance and National Living Wage changes, announced in the autumn budget, which take effect from April 2025.
MARKET REACTION
Shares in the FTSE Small Cap firm fell as much as 8.2% to a near five-month low of 145 pence.
The stock was down 4.4% by 1139 GMT and was the top percentage loser on the Small Cap index.
($1 = 0.8042 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
