Coats Group lifts FY pre-tax profit amid market volatility, pricing pressures

Shares in Coats Group are down almost 5% after it posted a rise in full-year pre-tax profit, in a 12-month period characterised by uncertainty, volatility and pricing pressures.

Pre-tax profit was $122.5m, from $80.3m. Revenue was $1.46bn, from $1.47bn. It recommended a final dividend of 0.84 cents, taking a pro forma full-year dividend of 1.25 cents a share.

Continued solid revenue growth of 4% in Industrial Division was achieved through market share gains, offsetting an 8% decline in Crafts Americas.

"Coats delivered a strong performance in 2016 with operating profit growth of 16%, despite challenging market conditions," said chief executive Rajiv Sharma in a statement.

"Uncertainty, volatility and pricing pressures characterised 2016," he added.

Sharma added that Coats entered 2017 on a solid footing, but remained cautious about market conditions.

"We expect to continue to deliver growth in line with management's expectations through our initiatives to deliver market share gains, productivity improvements and tight cost control.

"We will also continue to focus on cash flow generation in order to allow us to continue to reinvest in organic and inorganic growth opportunities."

At 10:39 GMT, shares in Coats were down 4.72% to 55.5p each.