SIG records £3m pre-tax profit in half year to June

SIG recorded an underlying profit before tax of £3 million in the six months to June 30.

Industry-wide pressures on materials shortages and cost inflation have had "minimal impact", with group sales soaring 33%, it said in a statement.

CEO Steve Francis said its focus on "empowered and entrepreneurial local teams" and service is building back market share and profitability.

"The strong revenue growth across our broad product offering, together with disciplined margin management, has been key to delivering an earlier and stronger profit than previously anticipated," he said. 

"Trading in July and August has continued to be solid and we expect continued profit improvement through H2 2021, despite the ongoing impact of material shortages and cost price inflation. As a result, providing the disruption from these headwinds does not worsen, we now anticipate full year underlying operating profit will be ahead of our prior expectations."

Andy Murphy, Director at Edison Group, said SIG has made strategic progress on recovery and invested in people, the business model and its service offering.

"It has added experienced Managing Directors in Germany and Benelux which means that all countries now have an MD, rebuilt the UK leadership team with new experienced hires, added 86 commercial or branch managers in UK Distribution, added training programs in France and Poland and increased focus on H&S across the Group," he said.

SIG has also implemented a new business model across the Group under the ‘Seven Pillars Return to Growth Strategy’ designed to improve relationships with customers. "Clearly there is further to go on this initiative but early signs is promising," he said.

SIG was awarded the Green Economy Mark by the London Stock Exchange in July. The classification highlights companies and investment funds listed on the LSE’s main market or on AIM that are driving the global green economy.