James Halstead profits rise despite demand "softening" in Europe

Commercial flooring manufacturer and distributor James Halstead has said it expects profits to grow by up to a fifth in the first half despite some challenging conditions.

In a brief trading update on Wednesday ahead of its interim results due at the end of March, the company said that it had seen some "softening of sales demand" in certain European markets.

The revelation follows comments from chair Anthony Wild during December's AGM who noted "strong competition" across the group's major markets.

Nevertheless, the company said that profits in the six months to 31 December should be 15-20% ahead of the previous year.

"The board's expectations for the full year remain positive and for continued progress on dividend distributions," the company said.

Shares were down 0.8% at 200.3p by 0929 GMT.