SIG UK LFL sales down 9% in 'challenging market'

Buildings materials supplier SIG on Wednesday said that like-for-like sales fell more than 9% in the UK for the first four months of 2019 due to a challenging market.

The company said the outlook for many of its markets remained uncertain, especially in the UK, where Brexit uncertainty has hit the sector, although SIG did not mention it specifically.

Group continuing like-for-like sales fell 2.6%.

Sales at the core UK distribution business fell 15% during the period. The company last year initiated a cost-cutting strategy to focus on profit rather than turnover.

Weak market conditions also contributed to the decline, which was "more than offset by the margin and cost actions taken over the last 12 months" and the company expected "significantly improved profitability in the current year.

Like-for-like revenues across the SIG's businesses in mainland Europe were up 2.7% in the period, against the softer backdrop seen across European construction markets from the end of last year, particularly in France and Germany.

“Revenues from our French businesses, in particular, performed strongly across most of the period, before a weaker performance in April as a result of a ransomware attack which left the business without access to ordering and accounting systems for a short period of time,” SIG said, adding that core systems had since been restored to operation.