Bathroom supplies group sees interim profits soar by 105.4%
Cheshire bathroom supplies firm Norcros has reported a 105.4% leap in first half profits today.
The Wilmslow based company announced figures for the six months ended September 30, which showed revenues of £162.6m, compared with £145m previously, while pre-tax profits soared from £7.4m to £15.2m this year.
Norcros said its Merlyn brand range performed strongly, in line with expectations, while the strong momentum on Triton was sustained. Johnson Tiles UK returned to profit following restructuring, and South Africa revenues increased by 7.1%, on a constant currency basis.
Shareholders will receive a 7.7% increase in the interim dividend of 2.8p per share.
Chairman Martin Towers said: “I am pleased to report a robust set of results for the six months ended 30 September 2018 in what has been a challenging market environment.
“This performance continues to demonstrate the strength of our market positions, our leading brands and the financial resilience of our diversified business model.”
He added: “The board remains confident that these attributes will continue to drive market outperformance and will enable the group to make further progress in line with its expectations for the year to 31 March 2019.”
And he said the impact of Brexit on the group remains an important short term consideration for the businesses, with potential consequences ranging from increases in cost prices, additional tariffs, lower consumer confidence levels and supply chain disruption.
“We have identified specific risks relevant to our business and prepared mitigation plans which are well developed.
“However, at this stage, the high level of uncertainty of both the financial and political implications of Brexit make the success of mitigation activities difficult to predict.”
