UK's Halstead Expecting Record Profits

Radcliffe, England, July 26, 2011 -- Commercial flooring manufacturer and distributor James Halstead said it was on track for record profits.

In a pre-closing trading update, Halstead said first half year revenues increased 15.2%.

Exports have remained strong, the company said, and overall sales should increase by around 15%.

In the UK the commercial flooring market place continues to be challenging as a result of the recession in the building sector, Halstead said, but the company expects domestic sales to be ahead of last year.

It said: “Notwithstanding these problems, we have increased turnover in the UK, partly as a result of increased market share but also as a result of significant growth in sourced product which has crossed over from the target market of "light contract" into the "heavy domestic" marketplace. With the same route to market as commercial flooring, through flooring distributors, we have encouraged this expansion.”