24th Nov 2015 10:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Structural steel company Severfield PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit increased in the first half thanks to higher revenue and good performance in its core business, prompting the company to declare an interim dividend.
Severfield said its pretax profit for the half to the end of September rose to GBP3.2 million from GBP1.7 million a year earlier, as revenue increased to GBP117.1 million from GBP97.4 million, helped by strong contract wins in its core construction and infrastructure operations.
The company said it will pay an interim dividend of 0.5 pence per share, having not made a payout a year earlier.
Severfield said it worked on 80 projects over the course of the half, including work on office developments, stadia, warehouses and distribution centres. Its UK order book at the close of the half stood at GBP185.0 million, down from GBP194.0 million, while its India order book was at GBP35.0 million, down from GBP38.0 million.
"I am delighted to announce another six months of good progress at Severfield. We have achieved growth in revenue, profits and cash generation, year-on-year margin increases and also remain on track for continuing margin improvement," said Ian Lawson, Severfield's chief executive.
"We expect the group's performance to continue to improve, supporting cash generation, investment, the achievement of our growth expectations and the maintenance of our progressive dividend policy," Lawson added.
Shares in Severfield were up 7.0% on Tuesday at 61.00p, one of the best performers in the FTSE All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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