Heating and air conditioning group hails ‘resilient’ results

Wolverhampton Heating and air conditioning group Andrews Sykes saw a slight dip in revenues and profits for the year ending 31 December 2019, but says it “remains resilient” among “continuous demand” for its products.

Revenues fell from £78.6m to £77.2m over the period, while profit after tax dipped by just over £2m to £15m.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning, chairman JG Murray said: “The group’s trading in the first quarter of 2020 started positively, especially in the UK where the pump hire business benefited from the recent abnormally wet weather while March was unfavourably affected by the pandemic.

“As many of our products are sourced from China, our supply chain was only mildly affected as most of our goods had already been delivered before the virus spread.

“Customer demand in specific geographical areas of our business has been affected more than others. Our relatively small businesses in Italy and France faced strict lockdowns in late February and March, and the UK introduced a more flexible lockdown on 23 March 2020.

“The Benelux countries have adopted a similar approach, we are able to continue to trade, albeit at a reduced level and with increased health and safety and social distancing measures. In the UAE trading is also continuing but at a lower level than in the past.

“The Board has in the past declared two dividends, an interim of 11.9 pence per share payable in November and a final, also of 11.9 pence per share, payable the following June. The Board has decided to propose a final dividend of 10.5 pence per share that will be paid in June 2020.”