Victoria Regulatory News (VCP)

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Victoria PLC

('Victoria' or the 'Group')

AGM Trading Update

Continued Good Progress

Victoria PLC (LSE: VCP) the international designers, manufacturers and distributors of innovative floorcoverings, is pleased to announce ahead of its AGM later today that it continued to trade well in the five months to the end of August, with like-for-like Group revenue up by more than 3% compared to the equivalent period last year. 

Of particular note, Victoria is pleased to advise that its previously announced strategy to use competitive product positioning to drive volume and market share growth in the UK - where the Group has made no acquisitions since October 2016 - is delivering as planned, with like-for-like revenue growth for the period also in excess of 3%.

Furthermore, Victoria has developed a number of new product ranges across the Group to be launched during the second half of the financial year, for which there has already been positive feedback from early marketing.

The Group is pleased to confirm that the recent acquisition of Ceramica Saloni has performed as anticipated and is exactly the business we expected. Operational management are now fully engaged in integrating the business with Keraben Grupo, and projects to realise synergies have been initiated. 

In addition to organic growth, the Group continues to work on further acquisitions, in particular in Europe - with no shortage of high quality opportunities - to continue to deliver longer-term growth in shareholder value. 

In line with the Group's strategy to build a business that is increasingly resilient to different market conditions, it continues to diversify both geographically and by product category. Nearly 70% of the Group's earnings are now generated from outside of the UK and are spread across several categories of flooring including carpets, ceramics, underlay, and LVT.

In summary, the Board is pleased with the Group's progress to date and remains confident of meeting market expectations for the full year ending 30 March 2019.

The Group will provide a full update on trading for the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2018 when it announces its Interim Results in November 2018.

Victoria's Annual General Meeting at 2.00pm today, is being held at the office of Brown Rudnick LLP, 8 Clifford Street, London, W1S 2LQ.

About Victoria

Established in 1895 and listed since 1963 and on AIM since 2013 (VCP.L), Victoria PLC, is an international manufacturer and distributor of innovative flooring products. The Group, which is headquartered in Kidderminster, UK, designs, manufactures and distributes a range of carpet, flooring underlay, ceramic tiles, LVT (luxury vinyl tile), artificial grass and flooring accessories. Victoria has operations in the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia and employs approximately 3,000 people across more than 20 sites. Victoria is the UK's largest carpet manufacturer and the second largest in Australia, as well as the largest manufacturer of underlay in both regions.

The Group's strategy is designed to create value for its shareholders and is focused on consistently increasing earnings per share via acquisitions and sustainable organic growth.

The Group's trading subsidiaries, as set out segmentally, include: