SStarkExecutive Cockpit

CFO — Finance, Cash & Capital

Quality of earnings, 13-week cash, leverage runway, working-capital unlock and the value levers behind the family-owned luxury house.

The Stark Group · FY26 (modeled)
Luxury to-the-trade — designers & architects only (no retail)
670 employees · 12+ US sites · 8 countries
Executive read· the answer, then the moves

Liquidity of £38m (≈ 11 weeks of cover) and £75m of acquisition capacity make capital the lever, not the constraint. Free the trapped cash first: normalizing DSO to 48d releases ≈ £3.2m and clears £4.5m of overdue receivables.

8 of 8 headline metrics improving vs prior · still off target: Total Revenue £165m vs £178m, Adjusted EBITDA £30m vs £33m, Adj. EBITDA Margin 18.2% vs 20.0%

Do now — ranked by urgency
  1. 1
    Pull working capital — drive DSO 55→48dWatch
    Why it matters

    Closing the DSO gap releases ≈ £3.2m of one-time cash; £4.5m is already >60 days overdue and at collection risk.

    What's driving it
    • DSO 55d vs 48d target
    • Overdue (>60d) £4.5m of £25m AR
    FYI
    • Brand-level unlock to a 50d stretch ≈ £2.1m
    • Owner: Treasury
  2. 2
    3 hospitality accounts running DSO > 60 daysWatch
    Why it matters

    Targeted collections on £0.9m; tighten deposit/milestone terms on long hospitality projects.

    What's driving it
    • DSO
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    Rosewood (62d), Mandarin Oriental (59d), embassy/institutional (64d) lifting blended DSO to 55d.

  3. 3
    Silk / fine-wool input costs firmingWatch
    Why it matters

    Lock forward fibre where possible; reprice bespoke quotes for the new cost band.

    What's driving it
    • Gross Margin
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    Fibre prices up; risk to Custom Rugs gross margin if not passed through.

  4. 4
    Digital-to-trade platform — PlannedWatch
    Why it matters

    Unbanked EBITDA until captured.

    What's driving it
    • £0.8m run-rate targeted
    • Signal: Integration savings
    FYI
    • E-commerce-to-trade & designer self-service ordering.
    • Owner: CFO
Adjusted EBITDA
£30m
+20% YoY · 18.2% margin
Liquidity
£38m
≈ 11 weeks of disbursements
Acquisition capacity
£75m
≈ £11m EBITDA @ ~7x to 3x ceiling
Working-capital unlock
£3.2m
DSO 55→48d target
Quality of earnings

Reported → Adjusted EBITDA

£5m of add-backs (17% of adj.) — the diligence-grade walk.

Driver bridge

EBITDA — prior to current year

Organic vs. acquisitive vs. price/mix vs. cost.

Treasury

13-week direct cash flow forecast

Above minimum

Net weekly cash (bars) and ending cash (line) vs. £6m minimum. Forecast trough: £11.3m.

£12m
Opening cash
£47m
13-wk collections
£46m
13-wk disbursements
£13.2m
Closing cash
Capital structure

Leverage runway vs. ceiling

Net Debt/EBITDA path against the 3x self-imposed, family-owned ceiling — modest leverage, ample headroom.

Headroom = firepower

Acquisition capacity

Net-debt capacity to 3x
£75m
≈ £11m acquirable EBITDA @ ~7x
Net Debt / EBITDA0.5x
Leverage Headroom2.5x
Interest Cover12.0x
Free Cash Flow£14m
Where the cash is trapped

Working-capital cash unlock

£2.1m opportunity

Normalizing laggard houses to a 50-day DSO releases ~£2.1m of one-time cash.

Scalamandré / House of Scalamandré57d
£0.6m
Stark Carpet (flagship, 1938)53d
£0.4m
Old World Weavers55d
£0.3m
Stark Studio Rugs54d
£0.3m
Fort Street Studio62d
£0.2m
Hinson & Grey Watkins58d
£0.2m
Ashley Stark Home56d
£0.1m

Concentrated in newer houses (Scalamandré, Stark Carpet, Old World Weavers) where billing discipline lags integration — the fastest cash win this fiscal year.

Revenue quality

Repeat-trade engine & margin

Repeat-designer revenue growth and where EBITDA is generated.

To-the-Trade / Repeat-Designer Revenue
£116m
▲ 11.5% vs priorTarget £126m
Repeat-Designer Mix %
70.0%
▲ 4.5% vs priorTarget 74.0%
Designer-Account Retention
108.0%
▲ 2.9% vs priorTarget 112.0%
Account Spend Retention (Gross)
95.0%
▲ 2.2% vs priorTarget 96.0%
Repeat-trade engine

Repeat-designer revenue bridge

Trend

Repeat-designer revenue growth

By product house

EBITDA by house

Collections

AR aging

Total AR £25m

Current days£11.5m
1-30 days£6.2m
31-60 days£3.1m
61-90 days£2.6m
90+ days£1.9m

Overdue (>60d) = £4.5m at collection risk.

By account

Receivables & credit watch

Accounts ranked by DSO and credit risk.

AccountRevenueDSORetentionCredit risk
Embassy / institutional (representative)£1.3m64d100%Medium
Rosewood Hotels (representative)£2.2m62d104%Medium
Aman Resorts (representative)£2.6m60d108%Low
Mandarin Oriental (representative)£2m59d105%Medium
Four Seasons (representative)£4m58d106%Medium
Yacht & aviation outfitters (representative)£1.8m57d107%Low
Studio Sofield (representative)£3.4m55d109%Low
Ken Fulk (representative)£3.1m53d110%Low
Kelly Wearstler Studio (representative)£4.6m52d114%Low
Peter Marino Architect (representative)£5.2m49d116%Low
Acquisitions

Acquired-brand economics

EBITDA uplift, DSO normalization and integration realization (as-acquired → current).

Brand (cohort)Acq.RevenueEBITDA %DSOIntegrationSynergyStatus
Stark Carpet (flagship, 1938)0£52m019%6053d100%100%Core
Old World Weavers1992£22m38%6655d100%96%Integrated
Stark Studio Rugs2014£24m27%6254d95%88%Integrated
Scalamandré / House of Scalamandré2017£30m49%7057d92%84%In progress
Hinson & Grey Watkins2017£7m12%6858d90%80%Integrated
Ashley Stark Home2021£9m12.5%5856d80%70%In progress
Fort Street Studio2025£6m11.5%6462d35%28%Early
Craft supply

Supplier terms & risk

Fibre, mill & atelier spend, DPO (working-capital lever), delivery and risk.

SupplierCategorySpendDPOOTIFScoreRisk
NZ / merino wool growersWool & natural fibre£14m48d94%90Low
Hand-knotting ateliers (India / Nepal / Thailand)Hand-knotting£12m50d86%88Medium
European fabric mills (Italy / France)Weaving mills£11m46d93%91Low
Silk filament suppliers (China/India)Silk & fibre£9m45d90%86Medium
Dye houses & finishingDyeing & finishing£5m42d88%84Medium
Tanneries (hides & leather)Hides & leather£4m44d91%87Low