LEAGUE TABLES Gross Margin Growth
On the face of it, this table tells a tale of serious pressure on margins: only 13 companies out of 55 managed to achieve a rise in gross margin in their latest financial period, against 42 companies which recorded a fall. And indeed, this year’s average 3.9% decline in margins is the steepest that Trailblazers has seen in the past 10 years. But context is everything, and the context in this case is last year’s average rise of 4.9%. The eight years before that saw only minimal movement, from a 1.6% gain in the average in 2016, to a 1.3% fall in 2019. So it appears that the 3.9% fall in the average is more of a corrective measure than a downward trend – next year’s figures may or may not confirm this.
Operating Margin
We have always regarded operating margin as one of the three key ratios in the merchant sector (the others are sales growth and stockturn), and this is one of the tables to share with your bank manager, your shareholders and your potential investors. It shows that 55 out of 57 of the leading companies in the builders merchant market were profitable at operating level in their latest financial period. That’s despite the knock-on effect of the turmoil created by Covid-19, despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, despite political uncertainties. Moreover, it’s the second highest annual average Trailblazers has recorded in the past 10 years, after last year’s record average of 7.0%. That’s the message for your investors: builders merchanting is a stable, profitable market.
Source: BMJ analysis of filed company accounts
GROSS MARGIN GROWTH: UP LAST YEAR, DOWN THIS YEAR
1. Highbourne 2. Lords
3. C&W Berry
4. UK Plumbing Supplies 5. Parker Building Supplies 6. Crossling 7. Carver
8. James Hargreaves 9. MP Moran 10. PGR Timber 11. John Nicholls 12. Robert Pochin 13. Walter Tipper 14. Wolseley UK 15. Paintwell 16. Turnbull 17. Kellaway 18. EH Smith 19. LBS
20. Browns
21. Howarth Timber Supplies 22. Travis Perkins 23. Williams
24. County Building Supplies 25. Lawsons
26.MKM
27. J T Dove
28. Grafton/Selco 29. James Burrell 30. Bradford & Sons 31. Frank Key
32. John A Stephens 33. JT Atkinson 34. Beatsons
35. Grant & Stone
36. Nicholls & Clarke 37. MGM Timber 38. Sydenhams 39. Boys & Boden
40. National Timber Group 41. IBMG
42. Beggs & Partners 43. Builder Depot 44. Haldane Shiells 45. RGB
46. Markovitz
47. Robert Price & Sons 48. Strukta Group 49. Joseph Parr
50. Myers Building Supplies 51. Brewer
52. Champion Timber 53. Stark
BMJ LEAGUE TABLES SPONSORED BY
54. Alsford Timber 55. Elliott Bros 56. Covers
57. Beesley & Fildes 58. Huws Gray
8
15.8% 14.3% 9.4% 8.0% 7.8% 7.5% 5.8% 5.3% 1.8% 1.8% 1.5% 1.3% 1.1%
-0.5% -0.6% -0.9% -0.9% -1.5% -1.8% -2.1% -2.3% -2.8% -3.0% -3.0% -3.7% -3.8% -3.9% -4.1% -4.4% -4.5% -4.6% -4.6% -4.9% -5.0% -5.7% -5.9% -6.0% -6.4% -6.5% -6.5% -6.9% -6.9% -7.5% -7.6% -8.1% -8.3% -9.5% -10.0% -10.5% -11.1% -11.3% -13.0% -14.2% -14.4% -15.2% -16.2% -21.2% -22.6%
TRAILBLAZERS
OPERATING MARGIN: STABLE AND PROFITABLE
1. PGR Timber 2. Strukta Group 3. Crossling
4. James Hargreaves 5. C&W Berry
6. Myers Building Supplies 7. MP Moran
8. Robert Price & Sons 9. Carver
10. Sydenhams 11. Lawsons
12. Parker Building Supplies 13. Joseph Parr 14. Turnbull
15. Robert Pochin 16. Beatsons 17. MKM
18. Walter Tipper
19. Beggs & Partners 20. J T Dove
21. Haldane Shiells 22. Kellaway 23. JT Atkinson
24.MGM Timber 25. Travis Perkins 26. Frank Key 27. Covers
28. UK Plumbing Supplies 29. Boys & Boden 30. LBS
31. Alsford Timber 32. Huws Gray 33. Brewer
34. Bradford & Sons 35.Wolseley UK 36.RGB
37. Elliott Bros 38. Highbourne 39. Lords
40. Howarth Timber Supplies 41. Champion Timber 42. John Nicholls 43. James Burrell
44. National Timber Group 45. EH Smith 46. Williams 47. Markovitz
48. Builder Depot 49. Grafton/Selco 50. Grant & Stone 51. Beesley & Fildes 52. Browns
53. County Building Supplies 54. Stark
55. John A Stephens 56. Nicholls & Clarke 57. IBMG
58.Paintwell
12.9% 12.9% 10.5% 10.5% 10.2% 9.6% 8.9% 8.9% 8.8% 8.8% 8.1% 7.5% 7.5% 7.4% 7.4% 7.3% 7.2% 7.1% 7.0% 6.9% 6.4% 6.2% 5.9% 5.8% 5.7% 5.5% 5.5% 5.4% 5.1% 5.1% 5.0% 5.0% 4.6% 4.2% 4.0% 4.0% 3.8% 3.8% 3.6% 3.5% 3.3% 3.3% 3.3% 3.1% 3.0% 2.7% 2.6% 2.5% 2.4% 2.2% 1.8% 1.8% 1.4% 1.2% 0.4% 0.1%
-0.9% -4.8%
A supplement to builders merchants journal April 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
