Lords Group Trading PLC on Tuesday reported double-digit rises in both interim profit and revenue in line with expectations, as it lifted its dividend by 6.3%.

Lords Group shares were up 8.6% at 76.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

For the six months that ended on June 30, the London-based distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY goods said pretax profit rose by 52% to £6.4 million from £4.2 million a year earlier, as revenue jumped 20% to £214.2 million from £179.0 million.

Lords noted that its Merchanting division saw a record revenue of £105.9 million during the period, up 73% from £61.1 million a year ago.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 27% to £14.2 million from £11.2 million a year earlier, as adjusted Ebitda margin increased to 6.6% compared to 6.2%.

‘During the period, the Plumbing & Heating division faced the challenge of an industry wide boiler supply shortage, however, through management-initiated controls, the sales volume impact was mitigated,’ Lords added.

Chief Executive Officer Shanker Patel said: ‘The group has continued to accelerate the delivery of its strategic plan, reflected in our financial performance in the half year which reaffirm delivery of our strategic targets of £500 million revenue by 2024 and 7.5% Ebitda margin in the medium term.’

Lords proposed an interim dividend of 0.67 pence per share, up 6.3% from 0.63p the year prior.

Looking ahead, Lords said it continues to see positive customer demand across its product offering and is confident of its business plan. It said trading continues to be in line with forecasts for 2022.

It said it is on track to deliver initial public offering target of £500 million revenue in 2024.

Lords’s IPO was on July 20 last year.

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