Proactive Investors - Marshalls PLC (LON:MSLH) will report next week in what its peers have said recently is a tough market for construction materials.
The paving slab and paviors specialist has already said overall sales were down by 10% in the first four months of the year at £199 million on a like-for-like basis.
New housing and private housing RMI [repair] markets remain the softest, while infrastructure/commercial and solar markets are doing better.
Landscape revenue was the weakest, down 15% (with new housing and private RMI being the softest and infrastructure markets less weak).
Building Products was only down 3%, helped by growth in civils/infrastructure sales from infrastructure markets and a recent uptick in housing groundwork.
The group still expects to see a small improvement in the second half of 2024, but its overall expectations for the year (and our forecasts) are unchanged.
One ray of hope is that Marshalls should benefit if Labour’s plans for a major housing build programme do come to fruition.
Broker Panmure Liberum recently reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the basis that 99% of its revenues come from the UK and noting the shares have risen by more than 6% since the election was called.