Hill & Smith gets boost from weak pound

The weak pound helped to boost revenues at infrastructure supplier Hill & Smith in the four months to the end of April.

Trading was in line with expectations, the company added, as revenues jumped to £191.3m from £165.4m. The pound's slump against the dollar and euro provided a 6% lift.

Underlying operating profit and operating margin were ahead of the same period last year.
Chief executive Derek Muir said the group had delivered a solid start to the year despite “mixed end market conditions”.

“Overall, conditions in many of our infrastructure markets remain favourable and we continue to expect to report good progress in 2017 in line with our expectations," he said.

“In the UK, implementation of the government's Road Investment Strategy continued to develop in line with our expectations. Internationally, we have continued to make good progress in the USA and Australia and results are ahead of prior year. Elsewhere, trading in Sweden and France is in line with our expectations.”