Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (LON:HILS) saw its shares dive by over 20% on Wednesday as the maker of road safety barriers, street signs and street lighting columns posted a double-digit drop in first-half profits, hit by project delays.
The FTSE 250-listed firm reported a 12% drop in underlying pre-tax profit to £33mln for the six months ended 30 June, down from £37.4mln a year earlier.
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The group’s revenue edged slightly higher to £295.4mln, up from £291.8mln as growth in overseas markets such as the US drove demand and countered weakness in the UK.
But the company – which also provides zinc and other coating services for fencing and bridges - said volatile raw material input costs in the UK and US hit operating margins.
Hill & Smith’s chief executive officer Derek Muir said: “While order books support a good second half, we now expect the performance for the remainder of the year to be more in line with our original expectations as set out in our 2017 preliminary results announcement. As a result, we do not expect to recover the shortfall experienced in the first half.”
The group still raised its interim dividend by 6% to 10.0p, up from 9.4p a year earlier.
In early morning trading, Hill & Smith shares were 21.2% lower at 1,158p.