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(Alliance News) -Â Norcros PLC on Thursday upgraded its annual guidance again after a strong finish to its financial year.
The kitchen and bathroom products supplier said it has continued to outperform previous expectations since late March, when it increased full-year profit guidance on good trading momentum, and it ended the financial year strongly.
As a result, the company now expects underlying operating profit for the financial year that ended March 31 to be no less than GBP33 million, ahead of both its previous guidance for the year of no less than GBP31 million and the GBP32.3 million reported for last year.
Revenue is now expected to be in the region of GBP324 million, down from GBP342 million the year before.
Due to a strong recovery in trading during the second half of the year and the "effective management" of working capital, Norcros expects to end the year with net cash of around GBP10 million, compared to net debt of GBP36.4 million at the end of March 2020.
"The group has recovered very strongly from a period of unprecedented uncertainty. Our performance on all fronts is a testament to our business model and our employees, particularly against the backdrop of challenging markets as demand adjusts to the impact of the pandemic and Brexit. It is particularly pleasing to see how well our businesses both in the UK and South Africa responded," said Chief Executive Nick Kelsall.
"Whilst market conditions are likely to remain challenging, the board is confident that the group's highly experienced management teams, resilient business model, increased financial strength and our focussed growth strategy will continue to drive outperformance leading to further progress in the year ahead."
Shares in Norcros were up 3.1% at 297.00 pence in London on Thursday.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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