Steel & Tube Holdings Limited (NZX: STU) Trading Update and Half Year Forecast Thursday 17th December 2020
Steel & Tube Holdings Limited has provided an update on its performance to end-November 2020, reporting trading above that expected since coming out of the March COVID-19 level 4 lockdown.
The positive performance reflects growing market demand driven in part by the busy residential and infrastructure sectors, which have provided some balance to a softening non-residential construction sector.
Chief Executive Officer of Steel & Tube, Mark Malpass, said: “COVID-19 has made for a difficult year, however, we are pleased with our progress in the year to date. We have seen positive signs of economic activity with a number of new projects and longer-term contracts secured. We remain focussed on optimising customer service and continuing to achieve further structural cost savings.
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The steel manufacturer s underlying profit, excluding tax adjustments, for the six months ending 31 December was expected to be in a range of between $6.5 - $7.5 million, compared with the year earlier s $5.7m. Covid-19 has made for a difficult year, however, we are pleased with our progress in the year to date, chief executive Mark Malpass said. We have seen positive signs of economic activity with a number of new projects and longer-term contracts secured, he said, adding the company had secured a solid pipeline of work, while supply chain disruptions had not significantly impacted the business.
He said revenue for the first five months of the period was down, but tracking close to the year earlier, with cost reductions and gains from the sub-leasing of property accounting for the profit growth.