Annual results from Grafton Group, owner of the Chadwicks and Woodie’s businesses, point to bumper investment by Irish people in their homes and properties.
Woodie’s, the market-leading DIY, Home and Garden retailer, had a “remarkable year” in 2021, according to the company, with record-breaking revenue and profitability.
Woodie’s was categorised as an essential retailer and remained open during the early months of 2021 when the country was in lockdown. The business made “exceptional gains” in the four months to mid-April increasing revenue by 70% on the same period in 2019.
According to Grafton, the rate of revenue growth at Woodie’s eased marginally compared to 2019 over the remainder of the first half following the full reopening of non-essential retail and other elements of the economy in May.
“The branches traded at record levels of activity in the first half making market share gains and improving the perception of Woodie’s as one of Ireland’s most distinctive retail brands,” said a Grafton Group statement.
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“While market conditions continued to normalise in H2, Woodie’s maintained a step change in performance with exceptional revenue growth of 22% cent compared to the second half of 2019.”
Pushing up prices met little resistance from consumers who were flush with cash. The Woodie’s operating profit margin in 2021 was 18% compared with 11% in pre-pandemic 2019.
Full-year Woodie’s turnover last year was £283m compared with £206m in 2019, and operating profit was £51m, more than double the outcome two years earlier.
Builders merchants chain Chadwicks traded at the highest levels of activity since 2008. Grafton Group said this was driven by an increase in confidence among households leading to increased spending on home maintenance and improvement projects and the reopening of house building sites.
In the annual results statement, Grafton has disclosed that average daily like-for-like revenue for Chadwicks in the period from mid-April to the end of June 2021 increased by c. 30% compared to the same period in 2019.
“While the pace of growth eased back in the second half from the exceptional level recorded in the months following the reopening of the sector, Chadwicks made sizeable revenue gains. Growth in average daily like-for-like revenue was 20% cent higher in the second half compared to the second half of 2019,” the company stated.
Chadwicks’ adjusted operating profit margin also widened, from 10.1% in 2019 to 12.5% in 2021. Among the factors behind this were the very high proportion of residential RMI transactions in the first four months of 2021, and inflation-related inventory gains realised on core commodity products including steel products which made a significantly higher profit contribution than in recent years.
Two recent acquisitions in Ireland, Proline Architectural Hardware and Daly Brothers in Dundalk, performed “ahead of plan”, said Grafton.
Grafton Group CEO Gavin Slark commented: “Trading year to date has been encouraging and the outlook for 2022 is positive, supported by strong housing and RMI markets, the inherent strength of our businesses, our strong balance sheet and future investment opportunities.”
