Genuit pre-tax profits profits sink in H1

Plastic piping systems manufacturer Genuit said on Tuesday that pre-tax profits had almost halved in the first six months of the year as a result of reduced turnover throughout the period.

Genuit said pre-tax profits had sunk 48.5% to £15.3m, while revenues fell 10.6% to £272.4m and statutory earnings per share crashed 63.8% to 3.4p. H1 dividends per share were unchanged at 4.1p.

On the other hand, underlying operating margins rose by 60 basis points to 16% in the first half.

The FTSE 250-listed group stated that trading conditions were unlikely to improve in FY24 due to low volumes across the house-building, commercial construction and repair, maintenance and improvement markets but said it was "well positioned" for an expected market recovery.

Chief executive Joe Vorih said: "Whilst the market remains subdued in 2024, the Group demonstrated continued operating margin improvement in the first half over prior year, as the benefits of our strategic actions continue.

"As we look forward into the second half, we currently anticipate these market conditions to remain, offset by continued operational and strategic progress. We continue to expect full year underlying operating profit to be within the range of analyst forecasts."

As of 0900 BST, Genuit shares were down 3.12% at 450.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com