27th Nov 2015 08:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Northern Bear PLC Friday said it is "cautiously optimistic" for a successful second half, with its confidence buoyed by a stronger order book, as it reported a largely flat pretax profit for its first half.
For the half year to end-September, the support services company reported a pretax profit of GBP936,000, up slightly from GBP922,000 a year before, as a slightly fall in revenue to GBP19.6 million from GBP20.1 million was offset by lower administrative expenses.
Revenue during the half year was hit by delays in starting a major roofing contract due to factors "outside" of Northern Bear's control. This contract is now underway, the company said.
Its roofing companies continued to perform well despite "constant pressure on margins", it said, whilst its mainstream specialist building services companies continued to secure a number of high profile contracts from Local Authorities, Housing Associates and the private sector.
Northern Bear noted that the new national living wage legislation is now expected to hit its results in the future, as its full time operatives can already expect to earn "in excess" of the proposed amounts.
Shares in Northern Bear were down 1.0% at 48.00 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Northern Bear