Sigmaroc. Regulatory News (SRC)

31 January 2023

(EPIC: SRC / Market: AIM / Sector: Construction Materials)

SIGMAROC PLC

 ('SigmaRoc', the 'Group' or the 'Company')

Year-end trading update

SigmaRoc (AIM: SRC), the quarried materials group, today provides an update on performance for the year ended 31 December 2022 ('FY22'), ahead of the publication of its final audited results by the end of March 2023.

FY22 highlights

Further to the update of 12 December 2022, trading in the final weeks of the year was strong, with the Group expecting to report underlying FY22 EBITDA and EPS slightly ahead of current market consensus expecations1:

- Revenues expected to be greater than £525m, including organic like-for-like growth of 19%;

- Underlying EBITDA expected to be greater than £100m, with margins increasing year-on-year to approximately 19%;

- Underlying EPS expected to be greater than 7.7 pence, up over 40% on the prior year;

- Following strong cash generation in the second half, year-end leverage expected to be within the Group's target below 2.0x.

Outlook for FY23

Trading in the early weeks of FY23 has been encouraging, with more favourable energy cost and availability conditions supporting better than expected demand in a number of the Group's European industrial products segments. The Group has continued to take a dynamic position on pricing through inflationary cost increases, as well as identifying opportunities to improve efficiency across its network. As such, the Board remains confident in the Group's ability to achieve further progress in 2023.

Throughout 2022 and into 2023, the Group has continued to develop its pipeline of strategic development projects, both organic and inorganic, with opportunities identified to accelerate strategic objectives and enhance financial performance across many of the Group's platforms. The Board continues to develop these initiatives and will update shareholders on progress throughout the year.

Max Vermorken, CEO of SigmaRoc, commented:

"Whilst 2022 comprised a long series of operational and commercial challenges, the Group delivered performance well ahead of our original expectations, demonstrating the strength of our operating model and local management teams.

2023 has started in an encouraging way and we have identified accretive opportunities that we believe can improve performance and accelerate our strategic goals. We remain mindful that the economic backdrop continues to present uncertainty and challenge in the near term, but we are equally confident that the Group can again demonstrate its resilience and achieve further strategic progress in the year ahead."

FY22 annual report and financial statements

The Group intends to publish its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2022 by the end of March 2023, followed by its ESG report in April 2023.

Information on the Company is available on its website, www.sigmaroc.com.

1Average of Analyst consensus estimates are revenue of £525m, underlying EBITDA of £99.5m, underlying EPS of 7.7p and leverage ratio of 2.0x.