Home safety firm confident of return to profit

Graham Whitworth, executive chairman of Sprue Aegis

Home safety products supplier Sprue cheered shareholders with an announcement that the group is set to return to profit in the first half of the year.

The Coventry-based firm, one of Europe’s leading developers and suppliers of home safety products such as fire alarms, endured a torrid first half to 2016 after a fall in sales primarily due to reduced demand in France (post- implementation of new smoke alarm legislation in 2015) and delays in product certification in Germany.

It had already been trying to recover from setback with its smoke alarms after battery problems revealed the expected lifespan was not as high as first announced.

In his AGM statement, Graham Whitworth, executive chairman, said: “Sprue has made a positive start to the year with an expected strong return to profitability in H1 2017 building on the steady progress delivered by the company in the second half of 2016.

“The combination of a significant improvement in gross margin and a net reduction in overheads is expected to contribute to a much improved financial performance by the group in H1 2017 compared to H1 2016.”

He added that despite recent currency fluctuations in relation to the US dollar and the euro, the group remained well positioned to deliver full year adjusted operating profit in line with market expectations.

The new manufacturing and distribution arrangements announced by the company in March are also said to be progressing well.

“These transformational initiatives will further strengthen our offering in the key markets we serve across Europe and greatly enhance our ability to accelerate growth and maximise shareholder value in the medium to longer term,” said Mr Whitworth.

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