LONDON (dpa-AFX) - SIG plc. (SHI.L), in its Trading Update for the twelve months ended 31 December 2016, reported that its group sales in 2016 were 2.738 billion pounds, an increase of 11.2% compared to prior year, having benefited from foreign exchange movements (+6.9%), acquisitions (+3.7%), and working days (0.3%). On a like-for-like basis Group sales increased 0.3%.
Mel Ewell, Chief Executive, said, 'Going forward we need to better balance business change with the day-to-day operations of the Group. Our principal aims for 2017 are therefore to restore our customer focus, place an increased emphasis on sales growth, and reduce leverage.'
The Group continues to expect that underlying profit before tax for 2016 will be within its previously stated 75 million pounds to 80 million pounds range, and that gross margin will be around 30bps lower than prior year.
In the UK & Ireland LFL sales in the year increased 1.1%, with SIG Distribution up 1.2% and SIG Exteriors down 1.5%. In Mainland Europe LFL sales declined 0.5%, with France and Germany down 2.0% and 1.3% respectively.
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