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LONDON (Alliance News) - Churchill China PLC Thursday reported a rise in pretax profit in the first half of 2015 boosted by revenue growth in its Hospitality business, and said that it is on track to meet expectations for the full year.
The maker of ceramic, glass and wood tableware and cutlery said that its pretax profit in the six months ended June 30 rose 12% to GBP1.6 million from GBP1.4 million in the first half of 2014.
Revenue grew 3% to GBP21.4 million from GBP20.9 million, as a GBP1.0 million increase in Hospitality sales offset a GBP0.5 million decline in Retail sales. Churchill China said that investments in sales and market development in the Hospitality segment allowed it to achieve further growth in export markets, but that prioritisation of resources in that business hindered growth in the Retail segment.
Churchill China will pay an interim dividend of 5.6 pence, a 10% increase on the 5.1p it paid the year before.
"Churchill has continued to perform well and I am pleased to report a good performance in the first six months of the year. We have delivered further growth against strong comparative figures and the Hospitality business has again achieved a record performance.
We are confident that the continued growth of our markets and the strength of our position within them will enable us to meet our expectations for the full year," Chairman Alan McWalter said in a statement.
Shares in Churchill China were trading up 2.9% at 535.00 pence on Thursday.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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