Europe shores up Zycko and Hardware.com owner in tough FY12

Accounts for The Simian Group show slight top- and bottom-line declines despite continental growth

A boost in European sales offset a decline in the UK for Zycko as Hardware.com owner Simian Group kept on a relatively even keel in its 2012 fiscal year.

In figures published at Companies House last month, Simian Group turnover for the year to 31 March 2012 fell 2.2 per cent to £135.3m. Operating profit was down two per cent to £5.7m.

Sales in the UK were down eight per cent to £50.5m, while the rest of Europe saw sales grow 3.2 per cent to £64.5m. Turnover generated across the rest of the world were down marginally to £20.2m.

Accounts for Simian's chief trading entity - the UK-registered Zycko Limited - show that FY12 sales were down 5.3 per cent to £79.4m. Operating profit took a bigger hit, falling from £2.7m to £2.06m. But currency fluctuations clearly took their toll on the bottom line, with the directors' report for the year claiming that the reduction in constant-currency terms was just £138,000.

The sales decline was "largely due to the changes in the operational structure of the Simian Group [leading to] fewer intra-group sales", claimed the report. But a change in product mix was also cited as a contributory factor to both the revenue fall and a reduction in gross margins from 11.6 to 11.4 per cent.

During FY12, the average monthly number of employees across all Simian Group companies increased from 311 to 328. Some 69 of these are in the employ of Zycko's UK arm.

"The [Simian] Group is able to present a very positive working capital position (including cash) of £8.8m [as of] 31 March 2012. The directors foresee that the group will be able to build upon this position and have the resources available to finance future growth."