Director dealings: Hill and Smith chairman ups stake
Jock Lennox, the chairman of infrastructure products manufacturer Hill and Smith, acquired 3,500 shares in the firm, just one week after the firm revealed that interim pre-tax profits had fallen 14%.
FTSE 250
20,704.72
11:30 06/01/25
FTSE 350
4,542.67
11:30 06/01/25
FTSE All-Share
4,499.26
11:30 06/01/25
Hill and Smith
1,870.00p
11:30 06/01/25
Industrial Engineering
12,391.18
11:30 06/01/25
Lennox, who is also a non-executive director at Barratt Developments and Dixons Carphone, purchased the shares at an average price of 1,022p each, for a total of £35,770.
Short-term delays in the UK's roads programme and utilities market along with bad weather and heightened Brexit uncertainties saw interim pre-tax profits fall 14% to £28.9m.
The company also warned it would not make up the shortfall in the full year.
Chief executive Derek Muir said the company's US and other international businesses performed strongly in the first half, "driven by the significant investment going into the replacement of ageing infrastructure and new infrastructure projects".
However, the UK business experienced headwinds from the winter storms in the first quarter, short-term delays to some road projects, and a "more cautious UK investment environment" due to Brexit uncertainties.
As of 1610 BST, Hill and Smith shares had shot up 6.96% to 1,106p.