Polypipe delivers strong growth in 2018

Polypipe, one of Europe's biggest manufacturers of plastic pipe systems, reported strong organic growth at its Residential Systems division, alongside a significant improvement at its Commercial and Infrastructure Systems division.

The Doncaster-based firm reported impressive like-for-like revenue growth of 10.2 per cent in the four months to October 31.

Revenue for the first ten months of 2018 was 4.5 per cent higher at £365.9m and 4.1 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis.

Polypipe's chief executive Martin Payne said: “I am delighted with the group’s performance so far in the second half, and in particular the marked improvement in our Commercial and Infrastructure Systems segment.

"The group continues to deliver strong organic growth ahead of the overall UK construction market and is well placed to achieve the board’s expectations for the full year.

"I am also pleased that we now have committed credit facilities in place through to 2023, which gives us a solid platform to deliver on our strategic objectives in the coming years.”

Analyst Graeme Kyle at Shore Capital said the trading update would be well received by the stock market.

"Group like-for-like sales growth was up 10.2 per cent over the period with both divisions performing well," he said.

"This is partly explained by catch up demand following weather disruptions in March/April, but we think this growth also represents continued market share gains and product substitution, which is central to our investment thesis.

Management also reported rising operating margins in the second half of the year although this may be due to the consolidation of the higher margin Manthorpe business."