23rd Jul 2015 07:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Breedon Aggregates Ltd on Thursday saw its shares rise in early trade after it posted a near-doubling in its pretax profit for the first half of 2015, driven by higher revenue as sales of its aggregates, asphalt and ready-mixed concrete all improved, leaving it set to beat its expectations for the full year.
Breedon said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP17.5 million, up from the GBP9.1 million it posted a year earlier and driven by a 28% rise in revenue in the half to GBP160.5 million from GBP125.2 million.
The company said its trading performance in the first half was "strong", with 4.5 million tonnes of aggregates sold, up from 3.6 million tonnes a year earlier. This was further boosted by a rise in asphalt sales, up to 0.9 million tonnes from 0.7 million, while it also sold 0.4 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete, up from 0.3 million.
Breedon said the step-up in its capital investment plan is on track and added that several potential acquisition opportunities are under review.
"Trading during the first half was strong, with both the underlying business and recent acquisitions performing ahead of our expectations. March was a record month for the Group, with exceptional performances from both England and Scotland," said Executive Chairman Peter Tom.
"Assuming that current trading conditions continue through the second half of 2015, we believe that market expectations for the year will be exceeded," Tom added.
Breedon shares were up 2.9% to 53.9999 pence in early trade on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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