Samuel Heath & Sons PLC on Friday reported a rise in its interim revenue but suffered a drop in profit due to rising costs.

The Birmingham-based shower and bathroom accessory manufacturer said sales for the six months that ended on September 30 increased 9.5% to £7.6 million from £6.9 million the year before, largely due to ‘currency movements’.

‘The strength of the dollar compared to sterling has had a materially beneficial effect as a significant proportion of our foreign sales is denominated in dollars’, the company explained.

Pretax profit, however, dropped by 33% to £521,000 from £776,000, as selling and distribution costs rose to £2.0 million from £1.5 million the year before.

Samuel Heath & Sons said costs increased ‘disproportionately’ since last year as expected.

‘As might be expected, we have been adversely affected by the general rise in energy and other costs, with our combined electricity and gas cost more than doubling. Avoiding supply chain disruption has also been a key concern and we have had to increase order lead times and build stock levels, so as to minimise delays in production,’ the company said.

It declared an interim dividend of 5.5 pence per share, unchanged from a year prior.

Looking ahead, the company said it’s ‘hesitant’ to predict a result for the second half of the year due to ‘strains on the supply chain’ and increasing concern of the labour market.

In July, Samuel Heath had said reported a pretax profit of £2.0 million in the year which ended March 31. This was more than tripled from £620,000 the year before. Revenue grew 22% to £14.0 million from £11.5 million.

Shares were flat at 590.00 pence each on Friday morning in London.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.