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(Alliance News) - Colefax Group PLC on Tuesday said earnings took a hit from "difficult" market conditions in the first half of its current financial year and it expects this trend to continue.
The stock was trading 9.8% lower in London around midday at 392.20p a share.
The furnishing fabrics & wallpapers distributor said pretax profit declined by 19% in the six months to the end of October to GBP2.9 million from GBP3.6 million a year earlier, as revenue fell by 5.3% to GBP43.0 million from GBP45.4 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue decreased by 7.4%.
Despite that, Colefax upped ints interim payout by 4.0% to 2.6 pence a share from 2.5p paid a year ago.
Performance in the first half was hurt by the Decorating division, where profit fell to GBP255,000 compared to GBP738,000 last year.
In Colefax's core Fabric division sales declined by 1.1% and by 3.8% on a constant currency basis.
"The group's performance over the last six months reflects difficult trading conditions in most of our major markets. This was not entirely unexpected given Brexit uncertainty and the low level of high-end housing transactions in the US and the UK," explained Chair David Green.
Looking ahead, Green added: "Although we expect trading conditions to remain relatively challenging we are well placed to take advantage of any improvements in market conditions and will continue to invest with confidence in our portfolio of luxury brands and our worldwide distribution network."
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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