There were more signs that the construction sector is rebounding in Britain after Howden Joinery reported a bumper start to the year.
The kitchen and building products supplier raked in turnover of £785million in the first six months of 2021.
Not surprisingly, this was higher than the £465million it made in the same period of last year when lockdowns brought the industry to a standstill.
Building boom: Howden raked in turnover of £785m in the first six months of 2021 and said it was ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the rest of the year
But it is also comfortably higher than the £653million brought in during the same spell of 2019.
The FTSE 250 firm said it was ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the rest of the year and has predicts profits of £300million for 2021 – far higher than the £250million City analysts were expecting.
Building materials suppliers have been reporting a jump in sales for some time and a purchasing managers’ index survey, compiled by IHS Markit, found construction activity in June grew at the highest rate since 1997.
But the frenzy of activity, added to Brexit disruptions, has led to a shortfall of some materials such as timber and bricks, which has driven up prices.
Stock Watch – Star Phoenix
Star Phoenix Group rocketed in value after the oilfield services tiddler said it was pursuing a hydrogen project in Western Australia.
It has teamed up with Curtin University in Perth for the project, which will cost £350,000 over two years and be funded by Star Phoenix.
It is one of a swathe of companies in the oil and gas industry that is moving into the hydrogen field.
Star Phoenix, which rose 28.6 per cent, or 0.4p, to 1.8p, yesterday is hunting in a resource-rich area of Western Australia and will have rights to develop the deposits if hydrogen is found.
Howden made no mention of this, however. Its shares rose 3.6 per cent, or 31p, to 883.2p.
Meanwhile infrastructure specialist Kier Group lost out despite hiking its forecasts. The HS2 contractor said it finished its financial year to June ‘moderately ahead of expectations’ and was making good progress paying down debt.
Some investors still decided to head for the exit, however, with Kier’s shares falling 2.9 per cent, or 3.8p, to 127p. The FTSE 100 slid into the red as traders anxiously awaited inflation figures that will be released today.
London’s premier index closed down 0.01 per cent, or 0.7 points, to 7124.72, while the FTSE 250 eked out a gain of 0.1 per cent, or 30.95 points, to close at 22,926.81.
Leading the charge on the mid-cap index was review site Trustpilot, which benefited from brokers at investment bank Berenberg raising the target price – or the amount they believe its shares are worth – from 385p to 430p.
It comes a day after Trustpilot , which rose 9.8 per cent, or 34p, to 381.4p, reported a 29 per cent jump in first-half revenue and said more and more businesses are signing up to its platform again.
Burberry gained 0.7 per cent, or 14p, to 2058p after announcing former ITV (up 0.9 per cent, or 1.1p, to 124.85p) boss Dame Carolyn McCall will retire from the fashion house’s board next year.
McCall has been a non-executive director at the luxury retailer, whose chief executive Marco Gobbetti announced he would leave last month, since 2014.
Posh chocolatier Hotel Chocolat climbed 2.9 per cent, or 11p, to 385p after it said it plans to create 250 jobs this year after online sales rocketed.
Turnover from its website was 15 per cent of business in 2019 but has now topped 50 per cent.
The plans include growing its factory, an extra truffle-making line, and a line for its home hot chocolate machines.
Newspaper and magazine wholesaler Smiths News got a boost from the Euro 2020 championship. It rose 6.8 per cent, or 2.9p, to 45.4p on a £1million boost in earnings from sticker and album sales as major sporting events kicked off again.
Halfords’ software business which manages its own garages, mobile vans and stores has secured US tyre seller American Tire Distributors as its first customer.
Shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 2.4p, to 377.4p. And Pennon Group backers brushed off criticism from the Environment Agency about its South West Water arm.
Officials said it was again one of the worst offenders in the sector for allowing raw sewage to spill into rivers and the sea.
It performed ‘significantly below target’ for pollution for the tenth year in a row. But Pennon finished 0.8 per cent higher, up 10p, to 1218p.
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