Safestyle full year profit up, special dividend announced

Safestyle posted a rise in full year profit as revenue increased and the company announced a special dividend.

For the year to the end of December, the window and door replacement group made a pre-tax profit of £17.6m, up 7.3% from 2014, as revenue grew 9.5% to £148.9m.

Basic earnings per share were up 7.9% to 17.8p and the group recommended a final dividend of 6.8p per share, up from 6.2% the year before, giving a total dividend for the year of 10.2p.

It also declared a special dividend of 6.8p per share, as its cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year surged to £16.5m £8.5m.

During the period, average unit sales increased 5.4% to £531 while the average order value was up 5.6% to £2,963.

The company grew its market share for the 11th consecutive year, to 9.46% from 8.48% at the prior year end.

Chief executive officer Steve Birmingham said: “During 2015 we continued our geographic expansion by opening three new sales branches, added conservatory upgrades to our product range and introduced an improved suite of promotional consumer finance options.

“The group is well positioned to continue to grow market share, expand our sales branch network and broaden our product range. In the current financial year, so far, order intake has been very strong giving us the confidence that we will maintain our successful progress in the year ahead."

At 1026 GMT, shares were up 6.2% to 285p.