Fife interior fit-out and furniture firm Havelock Europa has hailed a “resilient” performance during the first six months of the year despite falls in both revenue and pre-tax profit.
Chief executive Eric Prescott said the company had benefited from broadening its offer into a string of new sectors, and that it had won significant new and repeat business in Australia during the first half.
The group, which employs around 400 people at plants in Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy, booked interim revenues of £32.5 million a 5% decline and saw pre-tax losses rise by £200,000 to £2.2m after a charge for exceptional restructuring costs.
Mr Prescott said Havelock’s pattern of business often resulted in profits being earned in the second half, with shopfitting and other work focussed on fourth quarter delivery.
He said the present financial year was proving to be a “broadly similar shape” to the last two or three, despite a slowdown in the schools markets.
“The strategy of diversifying our customer base and growing our international division has helped to off-set the expected decline in education revenues in 2014,” he said.
“We continue to focus on improving efficiency and flexibility so that we can quickly respond to customer requirements and market changes which we believe will put the company in a good position to deliver in the second half.”
House broker Oriel said it expected 64% of Havelock’s annual revenues would be delivered in the final six months of the year, with analyst Ken Rumph writing that the performance was “in line”.
Mr Rumph also highlighted a pipeline of inquiries in the education field for next year, while Mr Prescott said the firm had started to develop “good opportunities” in the student accommodation sector with improvements in UK retail dependent on the pace of so-far “patchy” economic recovery.
“The economy is still patchy and the referendum on Scottish independence slowed a few things down up here and I expect the general election next year to have the same effect,” Mr Prescott said, though he did reveal a long-term contract to fit out branches of Barclays.
He also said the firm was working with major Australian retailer Kmart on significant shopfitting and display orders.
The discount department chain has 190 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
“We feel there are further opportunities there and we’ve got two people over there meeting with the client and others with a view to building that up,” Mr Prescott said of Havelock’s move into Australasia.
A new business development officer has already been installed in Shanghai, and Mr Prescott said the potentially valuable market’s counter-cyclical pattern was an added attraction with its peaks coming at slower times at home in the UK and Europe.
Meanwhile, Havelock also continues to benefit from the expansion of major retailers like Primark, with whom it has enjoyed long-term links.