The decision by the founder of Bilby PLC (LON:BILB) and his son to sell their 31.3% stake in the company earlier this year is looking increasingly well-timed after the housing maintenance group saw 22% wiped from its value early Tuesday.
Philip Copolo and his son Leigh trousered £12.6mln after selling their shares for 100p apiece back in September.
But the stock has tumbled to 71p today after Bilby posted an unexpected fall in half-year revenue and underlying earnings (EBITDA).
Revenue fell to £36.4mln in the six months ended September 30 (H1 17: £38.6mln), while EBITDA slumped by 15% to £2.68mln (H1 17: £3.15mln). The interim dividend was held at 0.5p a share.
READ: Results in full
Management said the underperformance was primarily due to the decision to stop its building services work for the Ministry of Defence, as well as a delay in some gas installation programmes.
Those issues will impact full-year results, although Bilby bosses remain confident that revenue and EBITDA will still be ahead of those achieved last year, with several new contracts having already been won in the first few weeks of the second half.
“I am pleased that we continued our operational momentum from last year into the first half of this year, expanding our blue-chip customer base and offering additional services to Bilby customers,” said chief executive David Ellingham.
“Since the period end, we are pleased to have pushed forward with our buy and build strategy and have acquired Dunham. The acquisition will see the group broaden its customer base and strengthen its presence in its core markets of London and the South East.”