31st Mar 2016 07:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - Commercial flooring company James Halstead PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit had risen in the first half of its financial year, but warned trading in the second half has been challenging to date.
James Halstead said pretax profit was up at GBP23.3 million for the six months to December 31 from GBP21.6 million the same period the previous year, but revenue fell due to the impact the strong sterling had on the translation of overseas sales. This meant revenue was down 2.1% to GBP114.7 million from GBP117.2 million, but, at constant exchange rates, sales were 2.9% ahead.
James Halstead said there was a 32% growth in revenue at its Polyflor Canada Inc unit, whilst James Halstead France reported a near 10% increase and its central European operation, Objectflor, saw 3.0% revenue growth.
The UK operations, which represent 39% of total revenue, grew 4.0% to 5.0%, James Halstead said.
The flooring company proposed an interim dividend of 3.50 pence per share, up 11% from 3.142 pence the previous year.
However, James Halstead warned early trading in the second half has "been challenging, with the UK noticeably facing rougher trading conditions".
"We continue to build on the robust performance of the last fifteen years and despite having the strength of sterling as a strong headwind to our exports in the first half we have again reported a record profit," said Chief Executive Mark Halstead.
Shares in James Halstead were down 0.1% at 418.35 pence on Thursday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
James Halstead