11th Jan 2021 10:03
(Alliance News) - SIG PLC on Monday said its second half revenue topped internal expectations as it posted fourth-quarter like-for-like growth.
The supplier of insulation, roofing, commercial interiors and specialist construction products said it made a "solid recovery" in the second half of 2020.
SIG's stock was up 7.8% at 33.32 pence each in London on Monday morning.
"Revenues in the second half of the year showed a solid recovery, ahead of the board's previous expectations, with progress throughout the half resulting in like-for-like revenues for the fourth quarter, up 4% compared to the prior year," the company said, owing the performance to an "initial impact" from its growth strategy.
For the whole of 2020, revenue from underlying operations is expected to come in at GBP1.87 billion, down 13% like-for-like.
The UK was the worst-hit, with like-for-like sales tumbling 25%. In the EU arm, the sales fall was 6%.
"Whilst the evolving Covid-19 backdrop will continue to create uncertainty in the short term, the fundamentals of the group's markets remain sound and the strong recovery in demand across territories and sectors through the second half was encouraging.
"Providing there is no material disruption to either our business or end markets as a result of the pandemic, the board expects the near term benefits of the actions taken in 2020 to deliver organic revenue growth in 2021, including market share gains. The benefits of this will become increasingly evident as the year progresses and should enable us to return to underlying operating profitability during the second half," SIG said.
Back in May, SIG outlined its "return to growth strategy" aimed at halting "nearly a decade of contraction".
"In order to return to profitable growth and win back market share, the board has developed a
new, customer-centric strategy that re-prioritises sales," SIG said in May.
SIG at the time said it was targeting a medium term group operating margin of about 3%,"trending towards 5% in the longer term".
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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