Alumasc’s financial year began on 1st July and it has just booked record profits in the first quarter, chairman John McCall revealed to shareholders today at their annual general meeting.
Alumasc products include drainpipes, gutters and fascias.
Each of its three divisions – Building Envelope, Water Management and Housebuilding Products – has contributed to this record performance. The restructuring over the previous year, which provided £2.4m in annual cost saving, undoubtedly benefitted margins, he said, which were well ahead in the period.
This profit performance has been accompanied by equally strong cash generation, reducing net bank borrowing of £4.3m at 30th June 2020 to below £1m today.
The chairman said: “It is still too early to know the extent to which the strength in the UK construction industry, which underpins this performance, reflects pent up demand from the period of lockdown as opposed to the true level of ongoing demand. However, there is nothing abnormal in the strong patterns of demand that we have experienced, with new commercial ventures continuing to lag other subsectors of the market.
“Despite the uncertainty present in the commercial sector, Levolux continues to respond to the prior restructuring and remains on track to return to sustainable profit, as it has been in the financial year to date.
“The strong bounce experienced by Alumasc in the UK has been supported by a lively export performance. Current orderbooks remain robust in general and include a growing list of export projects won in recent months, which are due to be delivered in the current financial year.
“In addition to the growing emphasis on sustainability, there are early signs of the promised acceleration in infrastructure expenditure by the UK government, which is expected to boost demand in the coming months.”
Chief executive Paul Hooper added: "The increased trading momentum has continued into quarter one of the new financial year and we have had a strong order intake. There continue to be opportunities to develop our positions further in the energy management and water management market places with an increasing alignment with the sustainability agenda."
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
