Hornby on 'the right track' after quarterly sales grow 5%

10th Feb 2015 15:52

Models and collectibles group Hornby registered 5% growth year-on-year in its sales for the third quarter, thanks to a solid performance over the Christmas period driven by its Scalextric and Corgi businesses.Sales grew 8% on a constant currency basis, in line what the performances over the previous six months, while the product order to delivery ratio was edging closer 70% compared with the 65% the company reported in the first half of the year."We are pleased with the progress that Hornby is making," said group chief executive Richard Ames."The move of our warehousing and logistics operations to the new premises in Hersden was completed smoothly during the last quarter of 2014. We are confident that it will provide the foundation from which we can drive the growth in sales that we are planning."The group said the performances were in line with management's expectations and added it remained focused on "the continuing improvement of the supply chain as the key to underpinning sales and profit growth" in 2015.In a trading update on Tuesday, Hornby said that the outlook for the current financial year was positive and the group is increasingly confident of being on the right track to improve its financial situation.Broker Numis upgraded the stock from 'hold' to 'add' citing a strong performance over the Christmas period, adding it would leave its full-year forecast unchanged."With further supply chain improvements and management continuing to execute sensible operational initiatives, we believe a solid platform is being set," Numis said in a note on Tuesday.