29th Jan 2019 10:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Luxury soft furnishings maker Colefax Group PLC hiked its interim dividend Tuesday after profit and revenue both grew despite a "weakening" trading environment.
For the six months ended October, pretax profit widened 41% to GBP3.6 million from GBP2.6 million the year prior. This is after revenue rose 7.8% to GBP45.4 million from GBP42.1 million the year before.
Profit performance was helped by the timing of contracts in the Decorating division. This resulted in a "strong" performance from the unit with profit more than tripling to GBP738,000 from GBP213,000 the year before.
"The group has delivered a positive first half performance against a weakening trading environment in most of our major markets," Colefax Chair David Green said.
"In our core US market we continue to benefit from the strength of the US dollar but the confidence that we saw at the start of the year has slowed recently and we are therefore more cautious about growth," Green continued. "In the UK trading remains challenging but could improve quickly if there is a satisfactory resolution to the current high level of Brexit uncertainty."
In its core Fabric unit, US sales were up 2% with those in the UK flat and Europe 1% lower. Overall, the Fabric division ended with sales 1.0% higher at GBP36.9 million.
Colefax proposed a 2.50 pence per share interim dividend, up 4.2% from 2.40p the year prior.
"The group has a strong balance sheet with net cash of GBP11.1 million and we are well-placed to take advantage of any improvements in market conditions," Green added. "We will continue to invest with confidence in our portfolio of luxury brands and our worldwide distribution network."
Shares in Colefax were 1.3% higher at 526.80 pence on Tuesday.
Related Shares:
Colefax Grp.