Howden Joinery Grp Ord (HWDJF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

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Replay transcript excerpt

WEBVTT 00:00:00.031 -- 00:00:06.654 Good morning and welcome to the Howdens 2026 interim results presentation. 00:00:06.654 -- 00:00:11.757 I'll begin by introducing our performance in the first half and Jackie Callaway, our 00:00:11.757 -- 00:00:15.898 CFO, will then review our financial results for the period. 00:00:15.898 -- 00:00:20.341 And I'll then share my perspective on our 2026 performance to date and our plans for 00:00:20.341 -- 00:00:23.742 the remainder of the year. And then we'll take your questions. 00:00:23.742 -- 00:00:28.544 In the first half, the business continued to advance on all fronts in what remains a 00:00:28.544 -- 00:00:30.635 challenging marketplace. 00:00:30.635 -- 00:00:36.037 The results met our expectations for the period and we're on track for 2026. 00:00:36.037 -- 00:00:41.719 Group sales in the first half increased by 3.3% and we're up 3.7% 00:00:41.719 -- 00:00:44.900 on a trading adjusted basis. 00:00:45.100 -- 00:00:50.122 In the UK, the number of kitchens we sold increased and we are well positioned to 00:00:50.122 -- 00:00:53.584 take market share again this year. 00:00:53.584 -- 00:00:57.765 We maintained an industry leading gross margin with gross profit ahead of last year and 00:00:57.765 -- 00:01:03.003 we balanced recovery of cost rises with our commitment to providing competitive prices 00:01:03.003 -- 00:01:06.004 across the board for our customers. 00:01:06.084 -- 00:01:10.786 Underlying profit before tax for the period was also ahead of last year, increasing at 00:01:10.786 -- 00:01:15.688 a higher rate than reported sales with underlying operating 00:01:16.049 -- 00:01:19.370 profit increasing more so. 00:01:19.370 -- 00:01:24.713 We progressed our strategic plans for the UK business which support our trade customers...