Howden Joinery UK growth accelerates

British kitchen supplier Howden Joinery's UK sales growth rate accelerated last year after it raised prices at the end of 2016 to offset cost pressure.

However, a weaker pound and additional operating costs impacted the company's 2017 profit, it said.

Revenue from over 640 Howdens Joinery depots, which supply more than 400,000 kitchens each year to homes in Britain, rose 7.1 percent to 1.37 billion pounds for the 53 weeks ended Dec. 30, compared with a 6.5 percent rise in the 52-week period ended Dec. 24, 2016.

Annual profit before tax fell to 232.2 million pounds from 237 million pounds it reported a year earlier.

Howden has banked on consumer spending on big-ticket purchases such as home improvement and refurbishing to drive its growth, with sales rising nearly 50 percent and shares soaring over 165 percent in the last 5 years.

Howden, Britain's largest manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens, appliances and joinery products to small builders, said group revenue rose to 1.4 billion pounds for the year ended Dec. 30, from 1.31 billion pounds last year.

The company said the robust sales performance in the second half of 2017 was expected to continue into 2018.

"Howden Joinery UK depots have seen a continuing good sales performance in the first two periods of our new financial year," the company said.

(Reporting by Rahul B and Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Amrutha Gayathri)