HTI said it has continued to make progress against its medium-term strategic plan, despite a challenging and uncertain retail environment, particularly within the UK. 

In the company’s latest financial report, HTI Group has said it is in a strong position to significantly grow both turnover and profitability in the coming years. The company was established in 1952, when it was founded as David Halsall. It now has a presence across 66 countries and a product portfolio with recognisable brands including Peppa Pig, JCB and Baby Born.

For the year to 31st December 2018, JR Hutt Holdings reported a turnover of £62.9m compared to £63.1m the prior period. UK income is at £37.3m, with global sales amounting to £10.7m. European revenues rose from £10.4m to £14.8m. Accounting for exchange rate movements, total sales were up by £482,000. Pre-tax profits also increased from £1.17m to £1.48m, while EBITDA rose from £1.7m to £2.33m.

HTI said it had continued to make progress against its medium-term strategic plan, noting that improvements had been achieved despite a challenging and uncertain retail environment, particularly within the UK.

A spokesperson for HTI said: “The business continues to invest in its own innovative, tooled products with our current pipeline of investments significantly above historical levels, demonstrating our commitment to developing exceptional goods at the right price points for our customers. We have developed a strong, scalable operational platform that will support the business to deliver a number of new growth opportunities both domestically and within our international markets.” They added: “This, combined with our continued investment in our in-house product research and development capabilities, our IT systems and infrastructure and new UK manufacturing facilities, has put the business in a strong position to deliver significant turnover and profitability growth in the coming years.”