Churchill China confident on strong international sales

POTTERY manufacturer Churchill China has said its focus on international markets will help sustain the business in the post-Brexit period.

Shareholders will be hoping that the Stoke-on-Trent business fares better than near neighbour  Portmeiron whose shares fell sharply yesterday when it issued a profit warning.

Churchill China, which supplies to the hospitality and retail markets worldwide, said in a six month trading update that the group had continued to perform well in the period to June 30.

“We have achieved strong growth across the business as a whole, with particularly good progress in our target Hospitality export markets,” it said.
 
“Whilst the result of the recent EU referendum has introduced some uncertainties into our markets, our business is increasingly international and focused on attractive markets with good potential.
 
“We remain confident that we will continue to deliver against our performance targets.”

Portmeirion’s shares slumped 20% in the first hour of trading yesterday after it warned that its pre-tax profits would be “materially below” its 2015 levels.

It eventually recovered to end the day down 1.7%.

Churchill China will announce its interim results for the six months to June 30, 2016 on August 31.