James Halstead Regulatory News (JHD)

7 Dec 2007 07:01

James Halstead PLC07 December 2007 7 December 2007 JAMES HALSTEAD PLC CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING James Halstead plc, the commercial flooring company, will hold its AGM today at12.00 noon at which the Chairman, Mr. Geoffrey Halstead, will make the followingstatement : "As is usual at the AGM I would like to give shareholders an update on currenttrading, which I would caveat by saying that this does not constitute aforecast. Prior to commenting I will just note that the final dividend for theyear to 30 June 2007 is paid today and at 11.25p is a 40.6% increase on lastyear. We are currently five months into the financial year and our businesses arerobust. Most of our companies, and certainly all our major ones, are reportingsales growth at, or near, double digit percentage. This is more than we budgetedand very encouraging. Offsetting this, to some extent, are continued rawmaterial price increases. Margins as a percentage of sales are consequentlyunder pressure but importantly the gross margin as an absolute figure is well ontrack to ensure our targets for the current year are met. Our expectation of solid profit growth and dividend progression in the currentyear are bolstered as a result and it is clear that this first half of thecurrent year will not disappoint market expectations. In addition, we continue to invest in the business for the future with warehouseand distribution expansion in both the UK and Central Europe well underway. Weremain vigilant and prepared to react to the conditions that prevail in oursector and to the wider economic conditions but are pleased with the situationso far this current year and, as things stand, I am confident that we will havegood news to report in our interims in March 2008." Enquiries:James Halstead plcGordon Oliver, Finance Director Tel: 0161 767 2500 Hudson SandlerNick Lyon Tel: 020 7796 4133 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange