SIG confident after sales rise

17th Nov 2010 07:49

SIG, a supplier of insulation and construction products, said it is confident of reaching full year profit expectations and posted a modest rise in second half sales.SIG said its end markets had continued to stabilise during the second half with modest like for like sales growth achieved in each of the four months from July to October 2010. Growth was driven mostly by an improvement in residential construction markets, SIG explained. However some sectors and countries have remained in negative territory compared with the same months in 2009, it added.Group sales year to date in constant currency are 1% lower than 2009, but are up by 3% since the end of June compared to the same period in 2009. Markets remain very competitive and gross margins have shown no improvement compared to the first half.In the short term, SIG sees mildly positive sales trends continuing through the remainder of 2010 and slight overall growth in 2011.SIG expects net debt at 31 December to be below the £227m reported at June 30.