Northern Bear trades 'well' in H1 despite supply chain and staffing headwinds

Building services firm Northern Bear said on Friday that it had "traded well" in the first half of its current financial year despite headwinds stemming from supply chain woes and staffing issues.

Northern Bear stated it expects to report interim operating profits, stated prior to amortisation and other adjustments, in the range of £1.4m to £1.5m, up from £500,000 at the same time a year earlier and the £1.4m reported in its last pre-Covid year.

The AIM-listed group also noted that its forward order book remained "strong" and should support its trading performance in the coming months, subject to ongoing supply chain and staffing challenges, but Northern Bear also acknowledged that there was still "a level of uncertainty" over the long-term outlook for Covid-19.

At the end of September, the group had a net cash position of £600,000.

Chairman Jeff Baryshnik said: "We are pleased to announce strong expected operating results for H1 FY22, despite ongoing industry-wide challenges.

"It is a testament to the executive team and subsidiary operating teams that H1 FY22 results are expected to exceed those from the comparable pre-pandemic period of H1 FY20. With a strong forward order book, we are well positioned to continue to generate a more normalised level of profitability."

As of 1050 GMT, Northern Bear shares had shot up 11.01% to 58.28p.