Coats Group lowers FY profit expectations

Industrial thread maker Coats Group downgraded its full-year expectations on Tuesday as it reported a decline in first-half profit and revenue.

In the six months to the end of June, adjusted operating profit fell to $107m from $125m in the same period a year earlier, with revenue down 11% to $715m and organic revenue down 19%. Coats pointed to widespread industry destocking in apparel and footwear, and previously-disclosed customer contract insourcing in the performance materials segment.

It said: "While we have continued to make market share gains and underpin performance through our actions during the half, we are now expecting a more gradual improvement in market demand during the second half.

"As a result, we continue to expect our full year trading to be in line with market expectations, albeit towards the lower end of the analyst forecast range. Further, we remain confident that due to our actions, and supported by increasing market volumes, we will achieve our 2024 margin goal of circa 17%."

Analysts are expecting group adjusted operating for the year to the end of December 2023 of between $240m and $261m.