Howden Joinery Group (Howdens), the British kitchen furniture manufacturer and dealer, increased its turnover by 12.0% to £619.4m in the first 24 weeks of 2018. The UK domestic market accounted for £619.4m (+12.1%) and activities in Continental Europe for £14.7m (+8.9%). Outside the UK there are currently 24 kitchen studios, 20 of which are in France alone. On a local currency basis, sales in France were 5.5 % higher than in the previous year. There are also two Howdens stores in Belgium and one each in Germany and the Netherlands. Seven new stores were opened in the United Kingdom in the first half of the year. This brings the number of Howdens kitchen studios in the UK to 668 locations. The opening of a total of 30 stores is planned for the year as a whole. Adjusted for the new studios, sales in the United Kingdom rose by 10.7% in the first half of the year.
Howdens' key earnings figures have also improved in the current reporting period. Operating profit and pre-tax profit rose by 4.5% to £69.6 m and 4.8% to £68.8 m respectively.
In the first four weeks of the second half of the year, sales in the United Kingdom increased by 5.3%.