Hill & Friends owner Pittards enjoys solid progress in H1

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Sep 26, 2022

Leather and luxury goods specialist producer Pittards said Monday it has maintained positive trading momentum for the six months ended 30 June. And that means continued growth in revenue and profitability and a stable order book.

Chairman Stephen Yapp called it a “solid performance… consistent with the achievement of market expectations for the year as a whole.

“This has been achieved against the backdrop of a turbulent global trading environment including inflation, increasing energy costs and supply chain reliability challenges. The whole team has responded with vigour and flexibility."

That translates to group revenues growing 7% to £10.37m from £9.66m in the year-ago’s H1 while gross margin rose to 30% from 28% last time.

EBITDA improved 11% to £0.83 million and pre-tax profit jumped 31% to £0.34 million. However, net debt grew to £11.18 million from £10.04 million a year ago. 

Half-year highlights included the continued strengthening of its management team; sales order book continues to be “steady”; the acquisition of Hill & Friends, adding another luxury brand to its portfolio; a diversified portfolio of products and markets enabling future growth opportunities; and its Ethiopian business steadily recovering post Covid-19.

CEO Reg Hankey said of its outlook: "The Group is continuing to make good progress implementing its strategy. We continue to see more opportunities than risk in the current climate and are cautiously optimistic looking forward.”