James Halstead Share News (JHD)

International sales helped lift flooring firm James Halstead to record revenues in the half year to December 31st.Trading over the first half produced revenues of £117.7m, an increase of 10.9% over the same period the year before.Overseas sales increased by 15.2%. The growth in Germany was over 17% and France and Scandinavia were north of 25%.Growth in the UK was lower with a 3.5% uplift on 2010 and the UK proportion of total turnover now stands at 33%, although the firm points out total UK revenue is at a record.Most of Halstead's work comes from commercial properties; recent contracts include the Royal London Hospital and Liverpool John Moores University.Pre-tax profit up to December increased to £21.1m - an increase of 14.1% over 2010 while the dividend has been boosted by 11.1% to 5p.News of the results had pushed the shares up 7% by 15:05. Since January the stock has risen 24.7%.BS