Regulatory News

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

Lords (AIM: LORD), a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, today issues a trading update for the four months ended 31 October 2025 (the "Period") in which Group revenue increased by 9.6% compared to the equivalent four-month period in 2024. 

As has been widely reported, the UK housing market has continued to be impacted by uncertainty as to, inter alia, potential property tax reforms in the upcoming Autumn Budget and RMI demand has remained subdued. 

Like-for-Like ("LFL") revenue in the Group's Merchanting division, which was 11.5% ahead in H1 2025, was 1.8% down on the prior year comparator, in the four months ended 31 October 2025. Notwithstanding competitors aggressively targeting market share in the Period, the division has delivered a gross margin improvement of 50 basis points compared to the equivalent four-month period in 2024.   

The Group's Plumbing and Heating division ('P&H'), which grew by 2.4% in H1 2025, saw LFL revenue 8.3% lower than the comparator in 2024 and the Group has not yet experienced a significant increase in P&H demand as it has entered the historically seasonally strong autumn and winter months. The division has benefited from the September 2025 appointment of Matthew Webber, its new Chief Operating Officer, and management actions taken earlier in the year to improve gross margin resulted in an increase of 150 basis points during the Period compared to the 2024 comparator. Under its new leadership, further strategic initiatives within P&H are currently under review for implementation by the end of 2025. 

Pleasingly, the Group's Digital division formed on the recent acquisition of CMO, saw its revenues increase month-on-month throughout the Period and the division delivered its maiden profitable months as part of the Group in both September and October 2025. 

As a result, the Group expects to report full year 2025 revenue of £480m - £485m and Adjusted EBITDA of between £20m - £21m. 

Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Lords, said: 

"After delivering strong revenue growth and resilient results in H1 2025, the UK construction market, as widely reported, has been more challenging since the late summer, and there has been reduced activity during the seasonally strong Autumn months in our core markets, as consumers and businesses await the outcome of the next fiscal budget. 

"Whilst we're pleased to see an overall increase in Group revenue on an absolute basis, this was mainly due to CMO which was profitable in September and October for the first time since acquisition. We continue to defend gross margin with the strengths of the Group's proposition, tightly control costs, and to optimise working capital. Whilst recovery in our core markets is taking longer than had previously been expected in our peer group, we are confident that Lords is very well positioned to deliver operational leverage and continue to execute its strategic combination of organic and acquisitive growth."

 

FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

Lords Group Trading plc	Via Burson Buchanan
Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Stuart Kilpatrick, Chief Financial Officer
Cavendish (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Ben Jeynes / Seamus Fricker (Corporate Finance)
Julian Morse / Henry Nicol / Matt Lewis (Sales and ECM)
Berenberg (Joint Broker) Matthew Armitt / Harry Nicholas / Detlir Elezi	Tel: +44 (0)20 3207 7800
Burson Buchanan	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore / Abby Gilchrist	LGT@buchanan.uk.com

Notes to editors:

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY goods. The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to the general public.

The Group operates through the following three divisions:

Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of merchant businesses and online platform capabilities. It operates both in the 'light side' (Building Materials and Timber) and 'heavy side' (Civils and Landscaping), through 32 locations in the UK.

Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the general public. The division offers its customers an attractive proposition through a multi-channel offering. The division operates over 16 locations enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

Digital: CMO Superstores provides an online route to market from nine specialist websites for construction and plumbing & heating customers.

Lords was established over 40 years ago as a family business with its first retail unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has grown into a business operating from 50 sites.

For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk