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LONDON (Alliance News) - Alumasc Group PLC on Thursday said its profit declined sharply in the first half of its current financial year, but revenue grew on improvements in Levolux unit.
The building and engineering products company reported pretax profit of GBP619,000 for the six months to the end of December 2018, down from GBP3.0 million reported for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue in the first half rose 4% to GBP44.3 million from GBP42.6 million year-on-year
Order book at the end of the year stood at GBP27.5 million, up 17% on the year prior. Like-for-like order intake across the company was 21% higher in the first half, mainly driven by the improvement at Levolux, a solar shading systems supplying business.
The company maintained its interim payout at 2.95p a share.
Looking ahead, Alumasc said it expects a much stronger performance in the second half of its current financial year, despite challenging market conditions.
"The first half of the year has seen Alumasc continue to focus on the key strategic growth drivers for our portfolio of businesses," said Chief Executive Paul Hooper.
"We expect the second half to benefit from strong order books and recent management action taken to increase profit. Together with strategic initiatives undertaken in the past eighteen months, we remain confident in the future," added Hooper.
The stock was trading 5.0% higher on Thursday at 115.00 pence a share.