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Speaking ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on 18th June 2020, chairman
Martin Warner said that things were getting better, but it was not yet clear by how much or how quickly.
"Since recommencing production at all of its plants on 21st April 2020, the board is pleased to report the group has swiftly returned to full operational capacity after implementing new safe operating procedures,” he said. “The new operating procedures and facilities are subject to rigorous ongoing monitoring to protect and reassure staff.
"The group has taken steps to retain the strong financial base and, at 31st May 2020, group cash balances amounted to over £18m and net debt stood at £7m, largely unchanged from the position at the end of 2019.
"The impact of the Covid-19 related closures impacted turnover up to the end of May, with UK turnover 25% below the equivalent period in 2019 and Belgian turnover less affected. The impact was most notable during April where operations were ceased for much of the month, returning to 75% of the 2019 equivalent in May.”
He concluded: "The board has taken encouragement from the positive return of manufacturing capacity and is intent on satisfying customer demand as the construction sector returns to more normal levels of activity. However, as there remains some uncertainty over the length of the disruption and until the group experiences normalised trading over several months, it remains too early to make judgements on expectations for 2020 and beyond."
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