James Halstead reports poor December trading

INTERNATIONAL flooring manufacturer and supplier James Halstead said  December trading “had not been good” and its forthcoming half-year results would not match last year’s record figures.

The company, based at Radcliffe near Bury, said it expects profits in the six months to December 31 to be in line with forecasts but around “3s-4%” below the £21.6m achieved last year.

In a trading update the company reiterated the caution sounded by chairman Geoffrey Halstead at the annual meeting on December 6, where he stated that December was always an unpredictable month.

It said: “In the event December was not a good month with many of our major markets trading below the same month the previous year against a trend of consistent positive results. Nevertheless, revenue for the 6 months to December 2013 was 2% ahead of the previous year.

“Taking the above into consideration it is expected that profit before tax will be in line with forecasts and around 3-4% below the record prior year interim profit.”