Midwich results: UK&I success not enough to save overall revenues

The AV distributor took a hit in H1, but has seen a positive start to the second half

Audio visual distributor Midwich Group’s first half of 2025 results were dampened by a weaker performance in Germany, with the UK & Ireland bouncing back to growth.

Revenues were down 4.3 per cent to £620.3m for the six months ended 30 June 2025, a drop the distie attributed largely to softness in the German market.

Organic revenue also fell 3.5 per cent.

Compared with H1 2024, organic revenue returned to growth in UK&I and APAC but declined in both EMEA and North America.

Acquisitions helped Midwich to growth in H1 2024. However, the distributor hasn’t taken its wallet out to acquire a company yet this year.

In an update on its M&A strategy, Midwich said it “continues to identify, prioritise and engage with targeted companies.”

UK&I growth, Germany stunted

UK&I H1 2025 revenues came in at £246.5m, a 4.9 per cent increase on last year.

The region bounced back from its 0.4 per cent dip in H1 2024.

Success in UK&I came down to increasing market share, the launch of commercial drone solutions in its broadcast division, and targeted overhead reductions. Continued strong demand in markets such as live events, entertainment and security supported further growth in technical product sales.

Meanwhile, revenues were down across EMEA (nine per cent), Asia Pacific (4.8 per cent), and North America (12 per cent).

EMEA revenues were impacted by significant softness in the German corporate end user market alongside major delays to purchase decisions in education ahead of new federal funding being made available later in 2025.

Outside of Germany (which contributes around one third to EMEA’s results), the group saw revenue growth in the rest of EMEA, reflecting stronger demand for more technical, higher margin, product categories.

"The first half of 2025 has been challenging for our industry, with education and corporate expenditure suppressed due to several factors such as high government debt, low or negative GDP growth and tariff uncertainty,” said Midwich Group MD, Stephen Fenby (pictured).

“As a result, we have seen reduced demand and price erosion of mainstream products which has contributed to compressed net margins. However, our higher margin technical product categories, which represent over two thirds of H1 sales, continue to be more resilient.”

Products breakdown

Overall revenue from Midwich’s two mainstream product areas (displays and projection) declined by around seven per cent for the period, reflecting a combination of market softness and a targeted reduction in sales of products with excess market capacity in Germany.

Excluding Germany, mainstream product sales across the group were slightly ahead of the prior year.

These mainstream categories accounted for less than a third of group revenue in H1 2025 as it continues to diversify into specialist areas.

Midwich said it will maintain its focus on higher margin technical products, which now represent over two thirds of group revenues in the period compared to 21 per cent at IPO in 2016.

Among its results, the distie revealed its board has taken “selected pro-active decisions” around cost base, including further targeted headcount and overhead savings in the first half of the year to offset inflation and position the group for profit growth when demand returns to normal levels.

These savings resulted in a reduction in group headcount of about five per cent, despite continued investment in growth areas such as the Middle East, Midwich said.

Outlook

Midwich said it’s seen a positive start to the second half, with the board continuing to expect organic sales growth in H2 2025.

Management continues to monitor prospective acquisition opportunities but will seek to more actively resume acquisitions from 2026.

The board will continue to assume general macroeconomic conditions will remain challenging for the remainder of 2025. Despite this, the group has a strong pipeline of opportunities and productivity initiatives which, when combined with a continued focus on driving further overhead efficiencies and maintaining prudent cash management, means the board's full year expectations remain unchanged.