Listed manufacturer sees pre-tax profits fall more than 92%

Doncaster-based manufacturer Polypipe says its trading is improving, despite having had to make 104 redundancies to cope with the virus outbreak.

The firm, which has today released its interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2020, has recorded revenues of £173.6m, down 22.3% from last year’s figure of £223.3m.

Pre-tax profits fell by more than 92%, from £31.4m to £2.3m over the same period.

The business says it has seen progressive improvement from April’s low point revenue of 66% below prior year, with June revenue being 19% below prior year and a continued improving trend into July and August.

Its report adds: “At our lowest point, we had 1,771 employees furloughed. Restructuring actions have now been completed to position the business for expected future demand.

“This included 104 redundancies, significantly fewer than the 250 at risk positions announced in July. All other employees have now returned to work.

“Job Retention Scheme money will be reimbursed to the Government for those employees made redundant (£0.7m) and the Group will not utilise the Job Retention Bonus Scheme planned to be available from February 2021.”

Martin Payne, chief executive officer, said: “The Group has traded robustly through the crisis with continued improvement in trading in recent months.

“The early actions we took to secure liquidity have positioned the Group to be able to capitalise on opportunities as they arise during the recovery, as well as continue investing in new product development in line with our strategy.

“We have a balanced exposure to the different elements of the UK construction market which provides resilience, and strong medium-term growth drivers.

“Whilst we remain mindful of the various risks to the UK’s economic recovery, I am confident the Group is well positioned for the future.”