Howden Joinery Group Plc ('the Group') is today publishing a trading update covering the period from the end of the first half of the year (11th June 2016) to date.

The Board is pleased to report that the Group has seen a solid performance in the second half of the year to date, including during the important October trading period (period 11), and is on track to meet expectations for the full year ^{Note 1}. However, it should be noted that the two remaining trading periods together typically account for over 10% of annual revenues.

Trading

Howden Joinery UK depots' total revenue in the second half of the year to 29 October (periods 7 to 11) increased by 4.1%. This was achieved in the face of toughening comparators that have been seen since June and the widely reported softer trading conditions seen in recent months.

As a result, in the first 11 periods (44 weeks) of 2016 total revenue was up 6.3%, rising 4.0% on a same depot basis. Gross margin performance has been in line with expectations.

Business developments

Since we released our 2016 Half Yearly Report in July, we have opened 10 new depots, resulting in 20 new depots in the UK so far this year and bringing the total to 639.

In addition, as part of the £55m share buyback programme announced on 23 February 2016, the Group has acquired 6.2m shares since July. This brings the total acquired this year to 17.5m, for which the consideration was £80.0m. This means that we have completed the share buyback programmes announced in February 2015 and 2016.

Note 1: The range of analyst expectations for profit before tax for 2016 is believed to be £218m to £244m, the mean being £229m.

Next scheduled announcement

The Group will release its 2016 Preliminary Results on 23 February 2017.

Note for editors:

Howden Joinery Group Plc is the parent company of Howden Joinery. In the UK, Howden Joinery is engaged in the sale of kitchens and joinery products to trade customers, primarily small local builders, through over 600 depots. Around one-third of the products it sells are manufactured in the company's own factories in Runcorn, Cheshire, and Howden, East Yorkshire. The business also has a small operation in France, Belgium, Germany and Holland.