Wickes Group PLC on Tuesday reported slightly higher annual profit despite flat revenue, while announcing the acquisition of an installer of solar panels.

Wickes is Watford, England-based building supplies retailer that was spun off from Travis Perkins PLC in 2021.

Pretax profit was £41.1 million in the 52 weeks that ended December 30, up 2.0% from £40.3 million in 2022. Adjusted pretax profit after software-as-a-service costs was £52.0 million, down from £75.4 million in 2022 but ahead of market consensus, which Wickes in a trading update in January had put at a ranged of £44.9 million to £48.3 million.

Revenue was £1.55 billion, flat on £1.56 billion the year before, with like-for-like sales down 0.3%, as previously guided.

Wickes declared a final dividend of 7.3 pence per share for a total annual payout of 10.9p, unchanged from 2022.

Wickes also last year completed £10.1 million of the £25 million share buyback programme that it had launched in July. Wickes on Tuesday started the £12.5 million second tranche of the buyback, to be completed by the end of September. The buyback will be run by broker Peel Hunt LLP.

Wickes on Tuesday also said it has agreed to buy a majority 51% stake in Gas Fast Ltd, the Castleford, England-based parent company of solar installations firm Solar Fast. The stake is being bought from the company’s founders, and Founder & Chief Executive Officer David Draper will continue to lead it.

Wickes is buying Solar Fast at a price based on a valuation of the entire company at between £10.0 million and £36.0 million. It will pay £5.1 million upon completion, with the balance due in early 2025.

Wickes has the option to buy the remaining 49% over the next five years.

Solar Fast had pretax profit of £3.9 million in the financial year that ended April 30, 2023, on revenue of £33.1 million. Over 2022 and 2023, Solar Fast installed more than 3,700 solar projects in customer homes, Wickes said.

‘This acquisition enables us to accelerate our Design & Installation growth lever, capitalising on our expertise in installing major home improvement projects,’ explained Wickes CEO David Wood.

Wickes added that it will provide a first quarter trading update in May. It said retail sales in the first 11 weeks of 2024 have been in line with 2023, and it is ‘comfortable’ with the market consensus for £43.6 million in adjusted pretax profit after SaaS impact for the full year.

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