Marshalls has reported a "resilient performance in continued weak end markets", despite its revenue dropping by almost 10% to £476m in the year to September.

The manufacturer ostated that its group revenue for Q3 had dropped by 3% year-on-year, which it described as a "material improvement" on the 12% like-for-like reduction in its half year results.

The firm’s roofing products proved to be the best performing sector, with revenue increasing by £1m to £139m year-on-year. It also boasted Q3 revenue growth of 12% quarter-on-quarter in this area, which it attributed to a "very strong Viridian Solar performance".

In a statement, the firm said: "The increase in Viridian Solar was driven by a combination of the continued ramp-up in activity arising from Part L building regulations that are focused on increasing energy efficiency."

Revenues remained flat across Marshalls’ building products in Q3, while landscape products saw a contraction of 13% in the same period. This has been linked to the decline in new house building and private housing RMI end markets.

However, this was an improvement from the 19% drop in revenue reported in the half year results.

Marshalls added: "The board continues to focus on its transformation programme to strengthen the leadership team and customer relationships and improve the performance of the segment."

The firm said that its balance sheet continues to be "robust", with a net debt of £149m at the end of September, which was an annual improvement of £41m.

Marshalls said that it had also repaid a further £25m on its term loan in early October to "optimise its financing costs" and now has an outstanding balance of £155m.

This runs alongside the group’s £160m revolving credit facility, which was undrawn at the end of September.

Looking ahead, the firm said it has "identified a number of opportunities" to deliver relative outperformance over the medium-term, which includes an increased focus on "attractive sustainability-driven markets", such as brick and masonry, water management and energy transition.

Marshalls is expecting this to coincide with the recovery of its core landscaping and roofing businesses, which will be "supported by the Government’s commitment to increase housebuilding significantly".

The firm added: "In anticipation of a continued improving demand environment for the group's products, the board expects that profit for the full year will be in line with its previous expectations and that pre-IFRS16 net debt will be modestly better than its previous expectations."

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