SIG flags fall in Q1 sales, appoints new finance chief

(Sharecast News) - SIG said in an update on Thursday that first-quarter sales fell as weak construction demand and poor weather weighed on trading, while the building products supplier also announced the appointment of Simon Kesterton as chief financial officer. The London-listed group said like-for-like sales declined 5% year on year to £614m in the period from 1 January to 31 March, with like-for-like volumes also down 5%.

Reported revenue fell 3%, reflecting a positive 2% aggregate impact from working days, exchange rates and net branch closures.

SIG said pricing pressure remained elevated, with year-on-year pricing flat in the quarter despite modest input cost inflation.

The company said demand in most markets remained well below historical levels, with European construction experiencing a protracted cyclical low, while trading in the early weeks of 2026 was hit by unusually poor weather across Europe.

UK like-for-like sales fell 5% to £266m, with UK Interiors down 8% to £160m and UK Roofing down 1% to £106m.

In the EU, like-for-like sales declined 4% to £348m.

France Interiors fell 5%, France Roofing declined 4%, Germany dropped 10% and Poland was down 3%, while Benelux rose 13% and Ireland increased 2%.

The company said Benelux and Ireland delivered like-for-like growth, while Poland and UK Roofing improved through the quarter to finish only marginally below the prior year.

France, Germany and UK Interiors were significantly affected by the combination of poor weather and subdued market conditions.

SIG said trading started to improve from March, with a like-for-like decline of 2% to 3% expected across March and April in aggregate.

Prior-year comparators were expected to ease slightly from May, which should support further improvement in like-for-like trends over the rest of the year, although the group said market conditions were expected to remain soft in 2026, particularly in the first half.

The group said first-quarter underlying operating profit was lower than the prior year because of the sales decline, and it expected first-half profit to be lower than in the first half of 2025.

It said it was continuing to target a robust full-year performance, with a greater weighting to the second half.

SIG said it continued to execute initiatives to improve cost efficiency and cash generation, including productivity, cost and working capital measures and a greater focus on procurement.

Cash flow in the quarter was ahead of plan, the group's £90m revolving credit facility remained undrawn, and SIG said it expected to maintain healthy liquidity throughout the year.

The company said recent increases in oil and gas prices were driving additional near-term input cost increases, which it expected to pass through in a timely manner.

It also said recent global events, notably the Iran war, had added uncertainty over the timing and shape of market recoveries across Europe.

SIG said its operational gearing meant the business remained well positioned to benefit when demand recovers, supporting the board's confidence that the group could deliver its targeted 3% to 5% operating margin range over the medium term.

Separately, SIG said Kesterton would join as CFO and an executive director on 1 May.

He was CFO of Kier Group from 2019 until December 2025 and previously served for six years as CFO of RPC Group during Pim Vervaat's tenure as chief executive.

He is also a non-executive director and audit committee chair of AIM-listed Mpac Group.

The appointment followed the announcement on 10 April that Ian Ashton had resigned as CFO.

Subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting expected around 22 May, Ashton would remain with the company until the end of May to support an orderly transition before stepping down as a director and leaving SIG.

Chief executive Pim Vervaat said the board was "delighted" that Kesterton had agreed to join the company.

"He has demonstrable experience of improving businesses to deliver shareholder value," Vervaat said.

"The board looks forward to working with Simon on SIG's growth and development."

SIG said it would publish its first-half results on 4 August.

At 0947 BST, shares in SIG were up 1.17% at 7.79p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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