Polypipe suffers fall in revenue due to 'unprecedented' impact of pandemic

Polypipe Group, which is a provider of sustainable water and climate management services for the built environment, has published its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

The company suffered a revenue decline of 10.9%, which the company said reflected the unprecedented trading environment in the second quarter, followed by a strong recovery.

The group's total revenue was £398.6m last year, compared with £447.6m in the previous year.

The underlying operating profit was severely impacted by reduced volumes in the first half and investment in Covid-19 measures, according to Polypipe.

The company said the performance was "much improved" in the second half.

Martin Payne, the chief executive officer, said: "I would like to thank our employees who have risen to, and overcome, the challenges that we have faced in what was an unprecedented year. The health and wellbeing of our colleagues, customers and communities remains our priority.

"We have continued to invest in new products, technologies and businesses to emerge stronger out of the pandemic. Trading conditions since the end of the year, together with the structural growth markets we are aligned to, provide confidence in the outlook for the current year and over the medium term."

Commenting on outlook, the company said: "Our markets continue to recover, with recent extensions to the stamp duty holiday and the existing Help to Buy scheme, together with the recently announced Government mortgage guarantee scheme, providing further confidence in the new house building sector.

"There remains continued improvement in RMI, commercial and infrastructure markets. Our medium-term demand drivers are stronger than ever - a continued structural UK housing shortage, the regulatory and environmental drivers around water and climate management, and increasingly indoor air quality, will be helpful tailwinds.

"The robust response to the crisis to strengthen the group's balance sheet and continue investment in new products has positioned the group on the front foot coming out of the crisis. Our businesses have started the new year strongly with no discernible impact on demand from the current lockdown. With our newly acquired businesses Adey, Nu-Heat and Plura, the board believes the group is in a strong position to deliver an improved performance in 2021."