Embargoed to 07:00

Wednesday 14 December 2022

Volution Group plc

AGM Trading Update for 4 months to 30 November 2022

Volution Group plc ("Volution" or "the Group" or "the Company", LSE: FAN), a leading international designer and manufacturer of energy efficient indoor air quality solutions, today announces an update on trading covering the four months to 30 November 2022.

Trading update

Group revenue for the four months to 30 November 2022 increased by 7% year-on-year at constant currency ("cc") to c.£112 million with organic growth of 5.5% (cc), delivered through a combination of both volume and price increases.  All three geographic regions grew organically.

The UK delivered organic revenue growth of 3.8% (cc).  Strong growth in residential markets and good growth in our OEM revenue stream, more than offset weaker revenues in commercial. In Continental Europe, organic revenue growth was 6.4% (cc). Both ClimaRad and ERI performed particularly strongly, demonstrating the continued attractiveness and growth of our heat recovery solutions. In Australasia, organic growth of 8.5% (cc) was driven by continued market share gains in Australia, and good growth in New Zealand.

Our excellent levels of customer service, focus on operational excellence, strong brands, attractive product portfolio and pricing power have all underpinned our ability to deliver on the Group's operating margin target.  Given the economic environment it is pleasing that since the year end we have continued to see sales and profits track ahead of the same period last year.

The Group retains a strong balance sheet, with leverage at historically low levels, providing us with opportunity for potential earnings enhancing acquisitions.

Regulatory drivers

We continue to see strong regulatory initiatives driven by the need to decarbonise buildings, drive improvements in air quality, and reduce damp and mould in residential homes. 

In the UK, the Future Homes Hub has been running a task group to help inform a planned formal consultation on the 2025 Future Homes Standard.  In addition, we have had a public consultation on the Decent Home Standard for Private Rental properties, and the Secretary of State for Housing has written to council leaders and social housing providers calling for action on housing conditions, including mould and condensation.

In Continental Europe, regulatory improvement from the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive continues to drive sales of energy efficient continuous ventilation systems, including heat recovery.  In Australia, recent changes to the National Construction Code build on existing provisions to further decrease health risks associated with condensation in new homes. 

Commenting on the Outlook, Ronnie George, Chief Executive Officer said:

"I am immensely proud of the excellent customer service we are maintaining across all of our markets and the considerable focus from our valued colleagues in delivering 'Healthy Air, Sustainably'.  Although the wider macro-economic backdrop remains uncertain, the regulatory, energy efficiency and indoor air quality drivers have never been stronger.

We are pleased with the start to the new financial year and in our ability to achieve our margin targets in the face of inflation. With our geographic and end-market diversity, our ongoing focus on operational excellence, and our cash generation, we are well positioned to continue to capitalise on the many structural growth opportunities in the months ahead."

-Ends-

For further information: 

Volution Group plc Legal Entity Identifier: 213800EPT84EQCDHO768.

Note to Editors:

Volution Group plc (LSE: FAN) is a leading international designer and manufacturer of energy efficient indoor air quality solutions.  Volution Group comprises 19 key brands across three regions:

UK: Vent-Axia, Manrose, Diffusion, National Ventilation, Airtech, Breathing Buildings, Torin-Sifan.

Continental Europe: Fresh, PAX, VoltAir, Kair, Air Connection, Rtek, inVENTer, Ventilair, ClimaRad, ERI Corporation.

Australasia: Simx, Ventair, Manrose.

For more information, please go to: www.volutiongroupplc.com

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements which are made in good faith and are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. You can sometimes, but not always, identify these statements by the use of a date in the future or such words as "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "project", "intend", "plan", "should", "may", "assume" and other similar words. By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.