14 January 2011 – interim management statement
A trading update has been provided to coincide with the company’s Annual General Meeting today. The period since full year results were reported on 24 November contained Christmas, New Year and exceptional weather conditions, so the company believes that it provides few indicators of underlying performance. There has been solid trading with specialist distributors and builders’ merchants. However, as anticipated, there has been a slow start to the newly extended CERT programme, which is a key driver of growth in the short term. Refurbishment of the second furnace remains on schedule for completion by the end of January. The timing and rate of growth in demand arising from the CERT extension remains uncertain but trading is expected to be weighted heavily towards the second half. The shares have had a strong run, up over 45% since our last update alongside the final results just 7 weeks ago and it looks sensible to TAKE PROFITS.