Shares in Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (LSE:HILS), a maker of galvanised steel for road barriers, fences and other transport infrastructure, jumped 13% as it expressed confidence in the outlook for its US businesses.
The FTSE 250-listed group delivered earnings of EBITA of £143.5 million for 2024 that beat consensus forecasts by around 4%.
On the day when US steel tariffs are kicking in, its thoughts on the current market outlook were in focus for investors.
CEO Rutger Helbing said the group's US businesses, which delivered around 76% of operating profit, are expected to see strong trading momentum to continue in 2025.
"We are closely monitoring the effect of current trade tensions on our businesses and supply chains, however we do not see a significant impact at this time," Helbing said.
The outlook for Hill's UK businesses in 2025, however, is "likely to remain challenging", he said, given public sector budgetary pressures.
Helbing said the board is "cautiously optimistic for some level of recovery", while attractive growth opportunities are seen for the Indian business.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the profit beat was "broad-based" on flat organic revenue growth for the year after being down 3% in the first half, with debt also better than expected.