Styles & Wood shares plunge as company swings to small profit

The AIM-traded firm reported underlying EBITDA of £1.3m, up 63.4%, and underlying profit before tax of £0.5m, a 138.8% improvement.

On a statutory basis, Styles & Wood swung to a £0.4m profit, compared to a £0.5m loss a year ago.

Underlying earnings per share were up 550% to 3.9p, and statutory earnings per share were 2.6p, compared with a loss per share of 10.2p in the first half of 2015.

At period end, Styles & Wood had net cash and equivalents of £3.7m, up 168.1%, and net debt narrowed to £3.33m from £6.42m.

Its order book stood at £69.9m in week 33, a 5.7% improvement on the same time in 2015.

“The group has delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year with revenue, EBITDA and profit before tax all showing good growth supported by strong cash generation,” said CEO Tony Lenehan.

“This is a particularly pleasing set of interim results, which provides further positive endorsement of the group's diversification strategy and, as demonstrated by improved margin performance, our selective approach to new business opportunities.”

Lenehan said the company has had “significant success” in securing longer term contracts with a number of blue chip clients, illustrating the “relevance and strength” of its service offering.

“The longer term nature of these contracted framework arrangements has also strengthened the projected carry through workload position for 2016/17 relative to prior year.”

At 1117 BST, shares in Styles & Wood were down 10.31% at 435p.