Heywood Williams says H1 "very tough"
Heywood Williams said on Tuesday that trading conditions had been "very tough" in the first six months of 2008. The distributor of building products said that the credit crunch had led to a drop in new build activity of 20-50 per cent in North American and European markets. Around 80 per cent of all the company's activities are in North America and Europe.
First Great Western to invest £29 mln in service improvementsHeywood Williams said that sales in the first half were down around eight per cent compared to 2007, with like for like sales down about 11 per cent.
The company said, "In these difficult trading conditions, the Group remains focused on maximising cash generation by optimising working capital, especially stock levels, and continues to aggressively drive specific initiatives to increase market shares, at least maintain margins and reduce costs." The group said the strategy had a material impact on its relative performance in the first half.
Of its outlook Heywood Williams said, "Given the continuing uncertainty in residential markets, the Board believes that forecasting the outcome for 2008 is extremely difficult. The Board's current view is that the Group will continue to face very difficult market conditions which also seem likely to deteriorate further in the second half. Despite the contribution of the mitigation initiatives, which continue to be implemented, the Board now expects the outcome for the full year to be significantly below current market expectations."
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