27th Sep 2019 09:24
(Alliance News) - Andrews Sykes Group PLC on Friday kept its dividend for the first half of 2019, even as profit and revenue for the period dropped on unfavourable weather conditions.
Shares in the heating and air-conditioning firm were 15% lower at 535.00 pence each in London on Friday.
For the six months to the end of June, pretax profit was down 27% to GBP6.3 million from GBP9.3 million the year before, as revenue declined by 7.5% to GBP35.0 million from GBP37.8 million.
Andrews Sykes attributed the weaker interim performance to adverse weather, with the much milder winter period for 2019 than 2018, leading to less opportunities for the group heating and boiler products.
In addition, a drier period compared to the year before impacted the group's pump hire business.
Operationally, Andrews Sykes underperformed in the UK and Europe. The UK hire business had a revenue drop of 12%, due to a 40% year-on-year drop in sales, while operations in the Benelux region revenue declined by 9%.
Andrews Skyes declared an interim dividend of 11.90 pence per share, in line with the year before.
Looking ahead, Andrews Skyes said that trading in the third quarter to date has started more positively, with pump hire revenue in the UK improving and air conditioning hire revenue in Europe being strong.
"The board has continued to invest in the business, with new depot openings during the year and further hire fleet investments. This will ensure that the business can optimise any weather driven opportunities whilst at the same time growing the geographic coverage organically," said Chair Jacques-Gaston Murray.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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