SigmaRoc margins ahead of expectations in year-to-date

Quarried materials company SigmaRoc reported revenue for the first nine months of the year of £394m in an update on Thursday, up 19% on a like-for-like basis over the same period in 2021.

The AIM-traded firm said underlying EBITDA for the period ended 30 September was £77m, up 5% on a like-for-like basis.

Its EBITDA margin was 19.5%, ahead of management's expectations, with effective pricing action and ongoing efficiency initiatives mitigating the current inflationary environment.

The company described “good” cash generation for the period, with a focus on de-gearing through to 31 December.

Its board said it was “confident” in delivering its 2022 expectations, while remaining mindful of current macroeconomic uncertainty and the potential for further unforeseen adverse events.

“Every quarter this year has been challenging and the third quarter was no different,” said chief executive officer Max Vermorken.

“However, the group's unique structure, decentralised operating model and diversified end markets have allowed it to be agile in the face of these challenges.

“As a result, we remain on track to deliver our expectations for this year and retain solid and broadly based order books across the group.”

Vermorken said in the current, “more challenging” conditions, the group's ability to drive continued performance enhancement, efficiency and cost saving benefits was a competitive differentiator.

“This not only underpins our near term trading outlook, but is also enabling the platforms to take advantage of commercial and strategic opportunities in their local markets.

“We have identified programmes that we expect to deliver further significant financial benefits and that can be self-funded.

“This will enable us to maintain our strong momentum, whilst we continue to assess acquisition opportunities on a highly disciplined basis.”

At 1514 BST, shares in SigmaRoc were up 5.41% at 44.8p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.