By Abigail Townsend
Date: Wednesday 11 Dec 2019
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Eurocell, the manufacturer of U-PVC doors, windows and conservatories, said it had continued to take market share in the second half as sales climbed.
Updating investors on trading, the Derbyshire-based company said revenues for the 11 months to 30 November were up 7.0% on a like-for-like basis. Its profiles division reported underlying growth of 5%, while the building plastics arm saw growth of 8.0% on the same basis.
Gross margin was also ahead of last year, Eurocell added, "reflecting higher usage of recycled material and selling price increases implemented progressively across the business in the first half to recover cost inflation".
Eurocell conceded there were still operating inefficiencies that needed addressing. But it said Mark Hemming, who was appointed chief operating officer in August, had made an "excellent start" and was "leading our drive to improve operating efficiency".
Canaccord Genuity, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock", called the update "reassuring".
Aynsley Lammin, analyst, said: "Overall, it is a generally reassuring update with no big surprises, and after tweaking our estimates, our earnings per share forecasts remain broadly as they were. Valuation looks very attractive in our view."
Eurocell will publish full-year results for the year to 31 December on 13 March 2020.
Shares in the company were flat as at 1440 GMT, up just 0.50p at 209.50p.