Norcros sells branded bathroom products: Triton showers, Merlyn shower enclosures, Vado taps, Fibo wall panels and others. It is the largest such group in the UK and Ireland. Over three years it has dropped its tile factories, bought a Norwegian wall-panel maker and put its South African arm up for sale. Like-for-like sales have barely grown, but profit has risen as the mix improved. The 15% margin target has not been reached.
Showers, taps and wall panels for the middle of the market
Norcros is based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and employs about 2,000 people. Its brands target the mid-premium end of the market and design their products in-house. Customers are trade buyers, retailers and housebuilders. Its European brands are Triton, Merlyn, Grant Westfield, Fibo, Vado, Croydex and Abode. In South Africa it owns Tile Africa, TAL and House of Plumbing.
Each brand runs independently, and the group shares scale in freight, purchasing and warehousing. Management says new-build housing is only about 20% of its European demand and revenue. Repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) is the larger and steadier part. In FY26, Europe made £292m of the group's £393m revenue and £44m of its £48m underlying operating profit. South Africa made £102m of revenue but a thin 3.5% margin. 11 Jun 2026
Weak markets, falling sales, rising margins
Sales fell in FY24 as demand weakened. Revenue dropped 11% to £392m, or 6% on a like-for-like basis. South Africa suffered power cuts. In October 2023 Norcros halved its UK tile capacity. The UK business still set a record profit that year, with a 13.6% margin, as management pointed to market-share gains.
The shares rose from about 143p in October 2023 to about 245p by September 2024. 12 Oct 2023 13 Jun 2024 16 Nov 2023 21 Nov 2024
Cutting out the tile factories
Tiles were the heavy, low-return part of the portfolio. In April 2024 Norcros sold Johnson Tiles UK to its management for £1m plus an earn-out. The business had £35m of revenue and £0.5m of operating profit, and the sale triggered a non-cash charge of £21m. In April 2025 the group began a review of Johnson Tiles South Africa. It then closed the factory at the end of June 2025, when the unit had lost £4.4m in cash over the year. The company said the closure should be cash neutral once inventory is sold.
The two exits cut revenue: FY25 sales were £368m, down 6%. Underlying operating profit stayed flat at £43m, while the margin rose to 11.7%. 25 Apr 2024 20 May 2024 10 Apr 2025 23 Jun 2025 12 Jun 2025 20 Nov 2025
Fibo: buying into Northern Europe
In July 2025 Norcros agreed to buy Fibo, a Norwegian maker of waterproof wall panels. It paid about £45m, and the deal completed in October 2025. Fibo had sales of about £63m and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax and depreciation) of about £7m in 2024. Debt-funded, the deal lifted pro forma leverage (net debt against earnings) to about 1.6x.
Fibo added £3.3m of operating profit in FY26 and lifted revenue 10.6% to £393m. Without Fibo and other adjustments, like-for-like revenue rose only 0.6%. Fibo's margin is below the group target, which diluted the group margin to 12.2%. Norcros renamed its UK&I division 'Europe'.
In May 2026 it said it would explore selling the South African business. The company expects that to take about 12 months. 15 Jul 2025 13 Oct 2025 20 Nov 2025 12 May 2026 11 Jun 2026
“These steps are significant milestones towards becoming a higher growth, capital-light, market-leading bathroom business.” 20 Nov 2025
Mix shift did the work, not volume growth
Management says it gained market share, but like-for-like sales grew by only 0.5% to 1% a year over this period. Profit grew because Norcros dropped loss-making or low-margin tiles and bought Fibo. The company ties its cash flow and returns to capital-light brands, and the group has reached a 20% return on capital employed. South Africa remains a drag on the group margin, which is why the sale matters.
Reported profit and underlying profit differ widely. In FY26 operating profit after acquisition, disposal and exceptional costs was £22m, against £48m underlying. 11 Jun 2026 16 Apr 2026 12 Jun 2025
Same chief executive, new chief financial officer needed
Thomas Willcocks has been chief executive for three years. Steve Good became chair in FY24. Chief financial officer James Eyre, who led acquisitions before that, is leaving after 12 years. Andy Hamer, the UK and Ireland finance director, is interim CFO while the company searches for a successor.
In May 2024 the company set five medium-term targets. By FY26 results it had met four: cash conversion above 90% (116%), return on capital employed above 20% (20.0%), organic growth 2-3% above the market and its 2028 emissions targets. The 15% margin target is still open. Management has also settled the pension deficit: it fell from about £36m to £11.7m in 2024, and contributions of about £4m a year end after June 2027.
The chair bought 20,000 shares at 304p in November 2025. The chief executive's sales of shares in the records cover tax on option exercises. Fund holders moved around: Premier Miton cut its stake from about 10% to under 5% in November 2025, and Canaccord went from about 10% to under 5% in August 2026. 11 Jun 2026 1 May 2024 13 Jun 2024 13 Mar 2025 20 Nov 2025 28 Nov 2025 18 Aug 2026 27 Jul 2026
Debt down, sales up, margin short of target
FY26 (53 weeks to April 2026) underlying operating profit was £48m, up 8%. Net debt was £65.8m (1.2x leverage). The dividend rose 8.7% to 11.3p.
On 15 October 2026 Norcros reported first-half revenue of about £220m, up 19% reported and 1.5% like-for-like. Underlying operating profit was at least £24.6m, against £21.9m a year earlier. Net debt was about £55m and leverage about 1.1x. The shares fell from about 357p in February 2026 to 278p in March. The company has not said why. The latest close was 308p on 15 October 2026. 11 Jun 2026 15 Oct 2026 2 Feb 2026
Targets to be reset once South Africa goes
The board expects full-year underlying operating profit to be in line with market expectations and says its FY27 plans are unchanged. It calls the market subdued and says the pace of any recovery in new build is unclear. Like-for-like sales rose 3.1% in the first quarter, against 1.5% for the half. Interim results are due on 19 November 2026.
Management expects to reach the 15% group margin in the medium term, as Fibo margins improve and the South African business finds new owners. It has also said all the targets will be reset at that point, so that 15% goal, set in May 2024, may change. A Vado and Merlyn full-bathroom range should start to deliver benefits in the second half of 2027. Open questions: the South African sale price and timing, a new CFO, and whether like-for-like growth can pick up. 11 Jun 2026 15 Oct 2026 22 Jul 2026 12 May 2026
“The strategic targets will be reset at this time.” 11 Jun 2026
Written by AI from Norcros's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources