SIG PLC on Tuesday reported a narrow revenue rise but a pretax profit fall, citing a ‘difficult’ market environment the company was operating in.
Revenue in the six months ended June 30 was up 4.4% to £1.42 billion, from £1.36 billion the year prior.
Pretax profit in the first half fell 53% to £12.2 million, from £26.2 million. This was partly due to acquisition related costs rising to £1.4 million, from £200,000 year-on-year,
Chief Executive Officer Gavin Slark said; ‘Our performance in the first half reflects the challenging market conditions we are currently facing.
‘Despite these conditions, I’m very pleased with the progress we are making on many fronts to improve the business, notably with the initiatives across our operating companies to improve our ability to drive higher levels of profitable growth when the market conditions recovery.’
Net assets fell to £273.1 million, down 2.3% from £279.5 million the year before.
Net debt widened to £468.8 million, up 8.6% from £431.8 million at the same point the year prior, whilst the company reported a free cash outflow of £20.3 million, narrowing 35% from £31.4 million at the same point the year before.
SIG declared no interim dividend, unchanged from the year before.
SIG said it expects market conditions to remain challenging in the second half, though the company expects a positive free cash flow in the second half.
CEO Slark said: ‘Looking ahead, while we expect market conditions in the second half to remain difficult, we remain confident the business will grasp the opportunities it has to continue to improve its underlying operational performance.
Shares in SIG PLC were up 0.1% to 28.58 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
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