Victoria PLC, the international designer, manufacturer and distributor of flooring, has reported a decline in half year sales but has seen an improving trend in performance.
According to its half-year report for the six months ended 27 September 2025, total sales fell 2% to £528.7m from £568.8 in 2024.
Underlying EBITDA resulted at £53.5m, up from £50.2m, while underlying pre-tax losses amounted to £15.4m, widening from a loss of £13.6m against the previous year.
The group said that revenue showed an improving trend through the period, narrowing from a c. 11% decline in Q1, to a c. 2% decline in Q2, while its UK carpets and hard flooring business continued to gain market share and traded well ahead of last year despite softer trading in the run up to the delayed Budget.
Meanwhile, the Australian businesses continue to perform strongly with further gains anticipated as the integration project underway within this division further reduces costs.
Other markets – particularly France and Germany – remain weak, impacting ceramics volumes (and, to a lesser extent, the artificial grass business), although the effects have been partially offset by growth in volumes in Spain and Portugal.
Similarly, the US division has suffered from soft consumer discretionary spending and delayed construction activity following the US government shutdown.
Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman of Victoria PLC commented: “This financial year has seen us working on dual tracks: addressing the Group balance sheet and executing internal initiatives to improve earnings.
“The refinancing process has been more extended than originally expected and reflects both the complexity of the capital structure and the point of the cycle. Refinancing the 2028 bonds remains a key objective for the business, and management continue to engage with all its capital providers to provide a solution that is advantageous to the Company/all stakeholders.
“Despite the macro environment headwinds, all the internal initiatives we announced earlier this year are on schedule and additional savings have been identified. Consequently, in the short term, and even with historically low demand, margins have begun to recover.
“And in the medium term, as demand normalises, we are confident Victoria’s revenue will grow and with the higher operational leverage now inherent in the business due to our initiatives we anticipate earnings increasing sharply with a clear path to mid-to-high teen EBITDA margins.”
