Northamber set to review vendor line-up

Distributor releases third-quarter interim trading statement which hints at a focus on "supportive" suppliers

UK distribution giant Northamber is set to review its vendor and product line-up and increase its focus on "supportive" suppliers, an interim trading report revealed today.

The firm released its interim management statement for the third quarter ended 31 March 2009, which revealed it has a cash balance of £13.2m compared with £13.3m in the same period a year ago.

According to the statement, the distributor has seen a "continuation of the shortfall in turnover" compared with the previous year, but the rate of decline has slowed in Q3, compared to Q2.

In February the firm warned that it would be "inappropriate to be optimistic " for the future, and the statement backed up the predictions.

"That degree of pessimism was not unwarranted within the UK economy and given the somewhat discretionary expenditure nature of our product and service offerings," it said.

It also highlighted a lack of vendor support affecting its performance.

"In line with the economic damage, the support levels available from vendors was not as good, and declined again during the third quarter when compared with last year," the statement said.

"With our very high level of working capital, the current turmoil has also required and enabled a review of our product offerings and vendor strategy, and with that a higher level of focus on those of our more supportive suppliers," it continued.

However, cost management within the business was singled out for praise, with pre-tax loss for the year to date contained to 0.3 per cent of sales.

"In the current climate, while creditor and debtor days have slightly extended, this result is a commendable achievement by the management team," the statement added.