Marshalls buys in loan stock

10th Nov 2009 14:48

The domestic order book of paving slab and tile maker Marshalls is showing signs of returning to historic levels after the 2008 downturn.Installer order books at the end of October 2009 contained 8.1 weeks' worth of orders, versus 6.4 weeks last year and 9.9 weeks in 2009.Revenue in the first ten months of the year has been not too far awry of expectations at £227m, down from £339m in the corresponding period of last year, which contained three extra trading days.Underlying daily sales revenue was down 17% on a like for like basis, with sales to the public sector (about 57% of the group's total sales) down 18% and sales to the domestic market down 15% year on year.The company remains cautious about future prospects and has contingency plans in place for a temporary lay off of staff that would reduce costs while reducing the number of redundancies.The company has redeemed its £20m 11.375% debenture stock due 1992/2014 in full ahead of the final maturity date. The redemption of the debenture stock prior to its maturity date will enable the business to benefit from a lower interest cost in the short to medium term., the company said.The company has also recently renewed its short term working capital facilities, and has 'significant committed facilities' in place with a positive spread of medium term maturities.