Shropshire Star

Aga sales fall warning

The Shropshire-based maker of the Aga cooker became the latest firm to feel the consumer chill today as an ailing housing market took a worsening toll on trading.

Published

The Shropshire-based maker of the Aga cooker became the latest firm to feel the consumer chill today as an ailing housing market took a worsening toll on trading.

Aga Rangemaster, which is based in Telford and also has a manufacturing base in Coalbrookdale, issued a profits warning after product orders slumped by 15 per cent.

The group said: "We have increased market share but the market itself has been affected by the fall in the number of housing transactions and order levels have recently been significantly below last year."

This is set to leave second-half operating profits "appreciably below" the £9 million seen in the first six months of 2008.

The 15 per cent decline represents a deepening of the slowdown reported two months ago when orders fell five per cent over the summer.

Sales of "big-ticket" items such as cookers, washing machines and fridge freezers are seen as most at threat from a property slump as fewer home sales reduces demand.