James Halstead PLC AGM Statement (7607Q)
02 December 2016 - 7:01AM
UK Regulatory
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RNS Number : 7607Q
James Halstead PLC
02 December 2016
2 December 2016
JAMES HALSTEAD PLC
Chairman's Statement to the Annual General Meeting
James Halstead plc, the commercial flooring company, is holding
its 101(st) AGM today at 12.00 noon at which the Chairman, Mr
Geoffrey Halstead, will make the following statement:
As is customary, I would like to give you an update on trading
now that we are five months into the current financial year.
The fall in the value of Sterling following the referendum vote
of June has contributed to increased margins on our overseas sales,
increased competitiveness and positive growth although it is still
early days. There are, of course, off-setting price pressures from
the lower value of sterling but overall the benefit is
positive.
It was noted by the CEO in the results announced on 30 September
2016 that revenues in the UK market were below last year and this
has continued. Whilst we note no slippage in market share, the
market is lower than last year with the best estimate of this
reduction being 4 -5 %. Nevertheless, these were all known factors
that our management team have factored into budgets and
targets.
In recent weeks there has been significant upward pressure on
the pricing of plasticiser, one of our key raw materials, due to a
suspension of production following an explosion at one of BASF's
European plants. BASF are not our main supplier and we have, to
date, accessed appropriate volumes elsewhere in the market however
their failure to supply has raised industry prices and introduced
supply chain delays and shortages. This may well continue into the
second half of the financial year.
In conclusion, trading to date has been challenging and making
progress against the comparative half-year will be difficult. Our
cash balances have grown and continue to be solid underpinning the
8.5p dividend to be proposed today - an increase of 8.2% on that of
last year and continuing our long history of dividend growth. I
remain confident in the prospects of the Company going forward.
- ends -
Enquiries:
James Halstead: Telephone: 0161 767 2500
Mark Halstead, Chief Executive
Gordon Oliver, Finance Director
Hudson Sandler: Telephone: 020 7796 4133
Nick Lyon
Panmure Gordon (Nomad and Joint Brokers): Telephone: 020 7886 2500
Ben Thorne
Andrew Potts
Arden (Joint Broker): Telephone: 020 7614 5900
Chris Hardie
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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December 02, 2016 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)