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(Sharecast News) - Lords Group tumbled on Thursday as the building materials distributor downgraded its full-year profit outlook, pointing to a housing market hit by uncertainty ahead of the Budget.
In an update on trading for the four months to the end of October, the company said group revenue rose 9.6%.
However, like-for-like revenue in the merchanting division, which was 11.5% ahead in the first half, was down 1.8% on the prior year comparator.
"As has been widely reported, the UK housing market has continued to be impacted by uncertainty as to, inter alia, potential property tax reforms in the upcoming Autumn Budget and RMI demand has remained subdued," it said.
LFL revenue in the plumbing and heating division, which grew 2.4% in H1, fell 8.3% during the period. Lords said it has not yet experienced a significant increase in demand as it has entered the historically seasonally strong autumn and winter months.
Lords now expects to report full-year 2025 revenue of 480m to 485m and adjusted EBITDA of between 20m and 21m. In its interim results in September, the company said its performance was in line with market expectations for full-year group adjusted EBITDA of between 24.7m and 25.1m.
Chief executive Shanker Patel said: "After delivering strong revenue growth and resilient results in H1 2025, the UK construction market, as widely reported, has been more challenging since the late summer, and there has been reduced activity during the seasonally strong Autumn months in our core markets, as consumers and businesses await the outcome of the next fiscal budget.
"Whilst we're pleased to see an overall increase in group revenue on an absolute basis, this was mainly due to CMO which was profitable in September and October for the first time since acquisition.
"We continue to defend gross margin with the strengths of the group's proposition, tightly control costs, and to optimise working capital. Whilst recovery in our core markets is taking longer than had previously been expected in our peer group, we are confident that Lords is very well positioned to deliver operational leverage and continue to execute its strategic combination of organic and acquisitive growth."
At 1005 GMT, the shares were down 26.7% at 22.88p.