9 May 2019 – trading update
A trading update has been released on the day of the Annual General Meeting. Profit expectations for the full year remain unchanged. On a reported basis, revenue increased by 15% in the four months ended 30 April 2019. On a like-for-like basis revenue for the four months was flat versus 2018. The difference mainly reflects contributions from the acquisitions completed in 2018 and currency impact. During the period, activity levels were slightly below expectations although the first four months of the year typically see lower absolute levels than the rest of the year. US and Canadian residential construction markets continued to be soft but in the UK performance has held up well. In Europe and the Rest of World activity levels were in line with expectations. We retain our BUY rating.