Shares in infrastructure supplier Hill and Smith took a hit this morning as the company highlighted difficulties within its 海角视频 business.
Despite a 10 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £63.2m for the six months ending in June, and a slight 0.4 per cent rise in revenue to £422.7m, the London-listed firm noted its 海角视频 segment had experienced a "more challenging market backdrop, with reduced demand across certain public sector customers."
"The second half outlook for our 海角视频 businesses is likely to remain challenging given budgetary pressures in the public sector, however we are cautiously optimistic for some level of recovery in 2025," it added.
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Shares dropped by over seven per cent in early trading. CEO Alan Giddins commented on the company's "good first half performance, underpinned by continuing strong demand for our products and services in the US and the strong performance from our most recent acquisitions. We expect this momentum to continue into the second half in line with our recently upgraded expectations."
"In the medium to longer term, the group is well positioned in infrastructure markets with attractive structural growth drivers."
During the half-year period, the company completed three new acquisitions, including a £10m takeover of Trident Industries, totalling £22.3m, as reported by .
Giddins noted: "This strong position, together with our ability to use M and A to access new customers, markets and adjacent technologies, and the benefits of our agile operating model, underpins our confidence in the group's positive trading outlook."
The dividends per share experienced a 10 per cent increase to 16.5p.
Hill and Smith has predicted that the full-year operating profit will be "in line" with recently upgraded market expectations.