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LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Titon Holdings PLC soared on Wednesday after it reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by continuing higher sales in its Korean business.
Shares in Titon were up 14% at 80.65 pence Wednesday morning.
Titon, which supplies ventilation systems and window hardware, said pretax profit for the six months to March 31 grew 44% to GBP792,000 from GBP551,000 in the same period a year earlier, on the back of a 21% rise in revenue to GBP10.7 million from GBP8.8 million.
Sales in Korea increased 44%, reflecting the increased demand for Titon's products from the private sector of the Korean new-build market, the company said. In the UK, sales increased 15%, which allowed Titon to make a first-half UK profit after posting a loss in the first half of the prior year.
The Ventilation Systems division continued to grow over the period in the UK due to strong residential construction in South East England. However, revenue in the Window and Door Hardware division increased only marginally as demand from key customers softened, Titon said, adding that outside the UK, weakness in its sales of hardware products has been more than offset by increased sales of mechanical ventilation products.
Investments in both divisions should help performance going forward, the company said.
"We expect conditions in our main UK market in the second half to be more challenging than in the first half year. The General Election is now over, and we very much hope that the uncertainty which we have seen from our UK customers in recent months disappears. The newly elected Conservative government has committed to improve the supply and affordability of new houses, and we look forward to that commitment being met over the next five years," Chairman Keith Ritchie said in a statement.
"We are optimistic that our Korean partnership will continue to grow in 2015 both in terms of sales and profitability," he added.
Titon will pay an interim dividend of 1.25 pence, up from the 1.0p paid the year before.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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