Nimans accounts reveal fall in sales and profits

Distributor saw profit more than halve and turnover fall fractionally in its year to 31 December 2008

Nimans' sales fell two per cent to £47m in 2008

The wafer-thin profit margins inherent in distribution have been laid bare in Nimans’ latest accounts.

According to a Companies House filing, the privately held communications specialist saw after-tax profit for the year to 31 December more than halve from £757,000 to £304,000.

Turnover dropped by two per cent to £47m, which Nimans blamed on a combination of a highly competitive market and the deteriorating economic climate.

“Although the company expects 2009 market conditions to continue to deteriorate in line with the country’s economic situation, we will continue to focus our activities on innovation and market-leading customer services to generate growth in our core activities,” it stated.

Since its year end, Nimans has gobbled up arch rival Rocom in a move that could roughly double its turnover. In 2008, Rocom generated sales of £45.4m.

“This brings together the two leading independent telecoms distributors in the UK and places us in a strong position to take advantage of any upturn in the economy in addition to maximising the economies of scale which our size will command,” the firm said.

Nimans is majority owned by chairman Julian Niman. The distributor’s accounts show that the highest-paid director saw their 2008 remuneration fall to £888,000, down from £1.01m in 2007.

Nimans’ overall wage and salary bill rose fractionally to £6.6m as the average monthly number of employees increased from 177 to 184.