In its 250^th year of trading, timber importer and distributor the James Latham Group has just announced its preliminary results, recording almost a 10 percent increase on last year’s turnover.

The results also show a significant increase in operating profits to £4,989,000 against £3,419,000 last year, an increase of 46% per cent.

Profit before tax stands at £5,706,000 against last year’s £11,628,000 which included £6,221,000 of exceptional profit on the sale of Nevill Long Limited.

In his first year as Chairman, Peter Latham said, "This year the group had a much stronger year than last. Turnover was up almost 10% and a useful improvement in gross margin percentage resulted in a marked increase in the company’s operating profit, this more than compensated for the loss of Nevill Long Limited profit"

He added, "International demand for timber products remained strong throughout the year and with temporary shortages in some areas, prices increased. This was noted in the interim statement and this continued into the rest of the year. However, timber prices are cyclical and will come down.  Volumes handled are lower than the previous year reflecting the Company’s move to higher value products and away from the more cyclical commodity type items."


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