Somero Enterprises enjoys forecast-busting year end

The AIM-listed provider of concrete machinery said its monthly sales were at an all-time high in December - not a historically strong month - rounding off a strong final quarter, meaning revenue would be ahead of current market expectations for the full year.

Ahead of the final results announcement on 1 March, Somero said the EBITDA outperformance was thanks to improved gross margin performance.

It reported that North America and Europe contributed significantly to the sales growth, while performance in China was "healthy and remained stable".

Somero said the year-end demand for the company's products in North America was driven primarily by technology upgrades and fleet additions, highlighting "lengthy project backlogs" for many of its customers.

"On a product basis, while large line machine sales continue to represent the majority of our volume, small-line revenues were key contributors to growth", the statement said.

"While it is too early to provide detailed guidance for 2016, the board is confident that it will deliver another year of growth and that the high level of activity in December will continue into 2016, providing a solid start to the year", it added.

Somero shares were up 16% to 136.9p by 1330 GMT on Thursday.