Victoria: tough times but cash coming through and asset support
There were reassuring results from carpet maker Victoria, although times are clearly very tough in the world of carpets.
While revenue declined by 7.8% in the first half from £32.71m and in constant currency terms, by 11.6%, the Group continued to be highly cash generative. Net debt reduced significantly by £1.96m to £9.47m, with net gearing 21.4% at the half-year compared to 26.0% at the year end. Operating profit £522m resulted in operating cash inflow of £3.5m. Group operating profit fell by 68.2% from £1.64 million to £0.52 million and pre-tax profit was down by 84.3% from £1.28 million to £0.20 million. The Group’s Australian and UK operations were both profitable but the Irish operation recorded a trading loss.…