11 May 2017 – interim results

The ventilation products group has announced excellent interim results covering the six months to 31 March, with revenue rising by 29% to £14.0m and pre-tax profit increasing by 61% to £1.18m.  Earnings per share were 34% higher at 6.09p and the interim dividend was raised by 20% to 1.5p per share.  At the end of the period the group had net cash of £2.71m, up from £2.46m a year earlier.  These are clearly excellent results benefitting from a good performance from the core UK businesses, whilst there was also a strong performance from South Korea which accounts for the largest share of group profit.  The US business also did well whilst there were increased exports to Continental Europe.  A confident statement augurs well for the full financial year, but following the sharp rise in the share price since we tipped the shares at 113.5p we reduce our recommendation to HOLD.