Safestyle expects FY loss despite profitable H2

Windows and doors manufacturer Safestyle said on Wednesday that it expects to report a loss for the year ended 31 December despite returning to profit in the second half.

Safestyle expects full-year revenues to be over £113.0m, with second-half revenues up 15% year-on-year but still expects to post an underlying loss before taxation of approximately £4.7m due to the cessation of operations during the first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.

The AIM-listed group said going into the new year, its order book was over 80% higher than 2019's closing position but noted that the interruption of in-home sales at the start of the new financial year had "some impact" on further order intake momentum.

Going forward, Safestyle said the restart of in-home selling in February presented an opportunity for it to regain strong order intake momentum and added that it was optimistic that door canvass operations would be allowed to restart during the second quarter of 2021 as the UK moves out of the current lockdown.

"Given the group's strong order book and installation pipeline, the board expects to make good progress in 2021," said Safestyle.

As of 0910 GMT, Safestyle shares were down 2.29% at 40.50p.