In Brief: Straight; KCOM: Deloitte; Stockleys
RECYCLING group Straight today said it is looking forward to the future with renewed confidence.
Chairman James Newman announced at the annual general meeting this morning that sales for the first six months of 2013 were £13.9m and that the Leeds-based group expects EBITDA for the period to exceed £1m.
He said: “We are delighted that the manufacturing business has generated profits for six consecutive months as a consequence of the significant changes made to it and believe this progress is not only sustainable but can be built upon.
“The group is now profitable and with its order book consistent with levels achieved in recent years, we can look forward with renewed confidence.”
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KCOM has today said trading conditions are in line with the group’s expectations.
The East Yorkshire-based telecoms business said that since its preliminary results announcement on June 7, the group has remained focused on executing its strategy for profitable growth across each of its brands, targeting opportunities to provide more value added services to existing customers and winning new contracts across each of its target markets. It said trading continues to be in line with expectations.
KCOM will hold its AGM this morning where subject to shareholder approval, it will pay a final dividend of 2.97p (2012: 2.67p) to shareholders.
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CONSUMER confidence in Yorkshire is slipping behind the rest of the nation, according to the latest Deloitte consumer tracker.
In Yorkshire, 47% of consumers feel worse about their household disposable income, a figure unchanged from the initial survey in 2011, while 20% say their levels of debt have grown worse.
Andy Coticelli, consumer business partner at Deloitte in Leeds, said: “There’s an element of caution amongst consumers – purses have been tightened over the last few years and have remained so, but I’d expect to see confidence grow within the coming months.
“Findings from the next quarter will be the ones to watch. By then I’d expect to see the growing level of optimism we’re witnessing in the business community here in Yorkshire, replicated in the consumer sector. It really isn’t all doom and gloom though, the broader picture shows things are moving in the right direction, there’s no reason for Yorkshire not to follow suit and we hope it’s just a matter of time before the picture improves here.”
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TRADITIONAL Yorkshire sweet manufacturer Stockleys, which is owned by Leeds-based wholesale distributor, Morris & Son, has seen its product go on display at the famous Henry Moore Institute this week.
A tonne of the well-known company’s silver foil wrapped sweets are used to recreate a sculpture originally by Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
Stockleys has a long history in sweet making. It was founded by Malcolm Stockley in 1918. It exports its famous sweets such as Herbal Candy, Cinder Toffee, Bronchial Lozenges and Coltsfoot Roc around the world and also supplies some of the most famous stores in the UK.
