Safestyle has recorded its strongest financial performance since 2017 going back into the black with £5.1million underlying profit in H1 with revenue up 13.3% on 2019 to £73million, despite pressure from raw materials and labour costs.
The company’s order book at the end of H1 was 9.6% ahead of H1 2020’s position and 65.7% ahead of the closing position at the end of H1 2019.
It reports availability of labour was part of ‘a broad range of disruption experienced’, proving a challenge to customer service, adding: “The business will take prompt action to anticipate further cost pressures during H2, including raw materials and labour cost increases.”
CEO Mike Gallaher summed up: “The business faced continued operational disruption during H1 and I am proud of the flexibility and resilience of all our staff in sustaining our operations while ensuring the safety of our customers and our people.
“The momentum we built on return from the first lockdown was sustained into H1 2021 resulting in strong revenue growth versus 2019 and an order book 65.7% higher than at the end of H1 2019. This performance has underpinned our ability to deliver a rapid recovery in profitability and a further strengthening of our balance sheet.
“Despite the continuing challenges of managing the disruption caused by the pandemic we have continued to make progress on a number of our strategic priorities. Our aim remains to build long term value for shareholders by modernising the business and hence building the foundations for sustained long term growth.”
