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(Sharecast News) - Engineered fastenings group Trifast said on Tuesday that its overall first-half performance was in line with internal expectations, with continued benefits from operational improvement initiatives "creating resilience" amidst "a challenging market backdrop".
Trifast said H1 revenues declined by approximately 6.4% year-on-year, driven primarily by softer demand caused by tariff disruption, with "unprecedented challenges" in the UK automotive sector, partially offset by growth in smart infrastructure, especially in North America.
Encouragingly, Trifast said underlying gross margins improved by around 144 basis points to 28.8%, with margin management being "the most significant contributor", and underlying earnings margins improving from 6.0% in H125 to 6.3%. Excluding the impact of exchange movements, which were "unusually high" because of the weakening of the USD, underlying EBIT margins improved from 6.5% in H125 to 7.1%.
Trifast said current full year expectations remained unchanged, despite external market challenges, with revenues predicted to come to £214m, underlying earnings seen at £16.1m, and underlying pre-tax profits pegged to come in at £11.6m.
"Looking ahead, we remain confident in delivering our medium-term targets, including achieving an underlying EBIT margin of greater than 10%. This confidence is underpinned by the substantial groundwork already completed to make Trifast a more efficient, professional, and data-led organisation," said Trifast.
As of 0850 BST, Trifast shares were up 2.66% at 84.80p.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
