The value of sales through specialist plumbing and heating (P&H) merchants rose in the final quarter of 2022, according to figures released by the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) in its latest Plumbing and Heating Merchants Index (PHMI).
Despite there being five fewer trading days in the final quarter of the year, in value terms absolute sales in Q4 2022 were 6.9% higher than in the third quarter of the year. Volume sales were lower by 2.6%, but prices increased by 9.7%. Comparing like-for-like sales, adjusted for the difference in trading days between the two quarters, shows an increase of 15.9% in value sales in Q4.
A comparison of the final quarter of 2022 with the same period in 2021 also highlights the effect of price increases over the past 12 months. Value sales in Q4 2022 were up by 10.3% over Q3 2021. Volume sales were 0.7% lower, while price was up by 11.0%. There was one less trading day in 2022, adjusted for this like-for-like sales increased by 12.2%.
A review of the year shows sales from January to December 2022 rose by 8.2% over the previous year. Once again this was driven by price, up by 9.3% with volume sales 1.0% lower. With three less trading days in 2022, like-for-like sales were up by 9.5%.