Business
AGM Trading Statement
AGM Trading Statement.
About this update from Sig Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 7845E SIG PLC 11 May 2017 \n\n11 May 2017\n \nSIG plc\n \nAGM Trading Statement\n \nSIG plc (\"SIG\" or \"the Group\"), a leading distributor of specialist building products in Europe, today issues a Trading Statement for 1 January to 30 April 2017 (\"the period\"), in advance of its Annual General Meeting which is being held at 12 noon today in Sheffield.\n \nTrading summary \n \nGroup revenues from continuing operations increased 6.5% in the period, with currency contributing 5.0% to growth, acquisitions 0.7%, offset by fewer working days (0.6) %. As a result, Group like-for-like (\"LFL\") revenues were ahead by 1.4%, in line with expectations.\n \nLFL revenues were up by 0.5% in the UK & Ireland and up by 2.4% in Mainland Europe. France in particular recorded a much improved performance, with LFLs increasing 3.1% as SIG began to benefit from an improving French residential construction market. LFLs in SIGD, the Group's insulation and interiors business in the UK, were up 0.3%. Air Handling continued to grow strongly, with LFL revenues up 16.3% in the period.\n \nSIG has recently closed Metechno, the offsite manufacturer of bathroom pods and utility cupboards contained within its Offsite Construction division, given its sub-scale nature in what is an increasingly competitive and commoditised market environment. The Group has also taken the decision to close its small scale Austrian operations and is in the process of winding these down.\n \nLeverage\n \nLeverage reduction remains a key short-term priority for the Group. Management continues to pursue a number of actions to strengthen the Group's balance sheet including asset disposals, more tightly focusing on cash generation and working capital management, and moderating capital expenditure. \n \nAs a result of these and other measures, and from an expected seasonal peak at the half year, SIG expects leverage to decline in the second half of 2017. The Group is targeting leverage to return to its 1.0 - 1.5x range in 2018.\n \nOutlook\n \nThe Group's 2016 results were weighted towards the first half of the year. Accordingly SIG expects its H1 2017 performance to be lower than that achieved in H1 2016, and to be comparable with H2 2016. For the full year...