Exports boost Halstead
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Your support makes all the difference.A STRONG export performance and cost-cutting helped James Halstead, the vinyl floorings company, to lift taxable profits 5 per cent to pounds 8m for the year to 30 June.
The result was accompanied by a near-7 per cent jump in the total dividend to 12p from earnings per share of 37.7p against 36.1p last time.
Halstead shares rose 21p to 481p yesterday. They have surged from a 12-month low of 343p last January.
Despite weaker margins, the group's Polyflor business maintained its profits contribution thanks to a substantial jump in exports to Europe and the Far East. Although the company does not provide a breakdown of group profits, it said exports accounted for a third of Polyflor's total sales of pounds 40m.
Stephen Knight, finance director, said the fall in sterling would benefit export opportunities, although its impact was likely to be limited because raw materials from the chemicals industry were priced in marks.
At home, Polyflor was helped by a national distribution network that enabled it to offset severely depressed demand in the South-east with gains in other areas.
The company closed Belstaff, its loss-making motorcycle clothing business, during the second half. The brand name has been retained for marketing products sourced from foreign sub-contractors.
The closure is costing almost pounds 3m, which has been taken below the line and reflects trading losses, write-down of stock values and redundancy payments.
The company generated pounds 11m cash from operations that resulted in net cash of pounds 3.5m at the year-end.
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