Housing boom hots up sales of the Aga range

BRITAIN’S housing market revival helped heat up sales at cooker maker Aga Rangemaster as its recent trading has fired ahead.

Group-wide orders are up 3 per cent for the year-to-date, with Aga sales rising by a “promising” 15 per cent in a sharp increase on the 8 per cent hike seen during the six months to the end of June.

Meanwhile, Rangemaster orders are just ahead for the year-to-date, despite having fallen 4 per cent in the first six months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

N+1 Singer analysts said it implied an improvement of up to 5 per cent in the second half so far.

William McGrath, chief executive of Aga Rangemaster, said: “The improving housing market creates a more positive backcloth for the group and sales trend lines in most of our operations are encouraging.”

He said Aga sales were a “hot spot”, also helped by a new generation of products, which include the iTotalControl electric Aga models, which can be operated remotely by smartphone.

But he said it was right to be cautious until there was a sustained improvement in household goods spending.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Office for National Statistics figures published this week showed this fell 1.2 per cent in October, amid a wider decline in retail sales last month.

The group said activity overall had picked up as mortgage approvals and housing transactions rose and the launch of a new Aga model in July encouraged existing owners to trade up.

However, it added: “The transition from tougher to more normalised markets for our brands is not uniform.”

Rayburn and Stanley cast iron cooker sales were down, while Aga Marvel sales in North America remained “comfortably ahead” of the prior year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Orders for the group’s floor tiles specialist business Fired Earth were up 4 per cent for the year-to-date but this was a slow down from 5 per cent growth in the first half.

The company said current trends suggested a sound performance for 2013 with an improving outlook for next year.

Its first shipment of products for the Chinese market is being made shortly, ahead of a full launch in the first quarter of 2014.

The group indicated earlier this year that the tide was turning in its performance as a first quarter 4 per cent sales fall turned to growth of 5 per cent in the second quarter.