(Alliance News) -Â Genuit Group PLC on Thursday raised its guidance after a "robust" start to the year, and said its chief executive plans to depart.
Shares in plastic piping systems maker formerly known as Polypipe were up 3.9% at 594.00 pence in London early Thursday.
Genuit, which holds its annual general meeting on Thursday in Doncaster, said it has experienced a strong start to 2021 and now expects underlying operating profit to be "close to the top end of the current consensus" due to better-than-expected revenue growth in the first fourth months of the year.
The firm placed consensus at GBP85 million, with a range of GBP80 million to GBP88 million.
Revenue for the four months to April 30 was GBP193 million, compared with GBP122.7 million for the same period in 2020 and GBP146.6 million for the comparative period in 2019. Margin performance has been broadly in line with expectations, "buoyed by strong operating leverage", while cash generation has been stronger than expected.
"The strength of trading conditions and that of the structural growth markets we operate in, leads the board to expect that these improved trends will continue for the remainder of the first half of this year. There is some remaining uncertainty about how the pandemic will evolve, but the board believes the group is in a strong position to make continued progress in the current year," said Chief Executive Martin Payne.
Genuit separately said on Thursday that Payne intends to step down as CEO and from the board, but won't leave until the first half of 2022 to support an orderly transition. The company is commencing a process to appoint his replacement.
It has also hired Matt Pullen as chief operating officer, effective from November 1. He joins from British Gypsum, a part of the Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA group, based in the UK, where he served as managing director since 2018.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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Genuit Group (GEN)