There's no doubting that 2009 was an annus horribilis for hard landscaping supplier Marshalls PLC but things look like they are about to pick up.
In today's rubber stamping of its full year results, Marshalls (MSLH) confirmed that sales in 2009 fell to £311,685m from £378,068m in 2008.
Since its successful rights issue and reduction in operating expenses, Marshalls says that it is in a strong position to benefit from the recovery and I would hazard a guess that with the Olympics now just over two years away, sales and orders will significantly improve.
There's also good reasons to believe that domestic landscaping will contribute to a better 2010 - although Marshalls, quite rightly, remains cautious in the medium term.
Key features of 2009:
- Major restructuring complete
- Cost base reduced by £11.4m
- Operating flexibility increased
- Strong balance sheet and borrowings reduced
- Completion of Rights Issue raising £34.0m (net of expenses)
- Redemption of £20.0m debenture to reduce finance charges
- Strong cash generation with free cash flow of £35.3m
- Net debt reduced to £69.2m
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