No recommendation
No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. Hargreaves Lansdown may not share ShareCast's (powered by Digital Look) views.
(Sharecast News) - Northern Bear reported sharply higher revenue and profits for the first half of its financial year on Wednesday, saying trading was ahead of management expectations and cash generation remained strong.
The AIM-traded building and support services group posted significantly improved earnings for the six months ended 30 September, and said its financial position remained "robust" despite flat market conditions across its core regions.
Revenue rose to 49.4m from 37.6m a year earlier, while gross profit increased to 12.2m from 8.9m, lifting the gross margin to 24.7% from 23.8%.
Operating profit climbed to 4.1m from 1.7m, a figure that includes a previously flagged non-recurring operating gain of 1.3m arising from normal trading activities but not expected to repeat.
EBITDA more than doubled to 4.9m from 2.5m, and basic earnings per share rose to 21.9p from 8.4p.
Cash generated from operations improved to 3.1m and the group fully repaid its 1.45m Virgin Money term loan during the period.
Excluding the one-off gain, operating profit would have been 2.8m, EBITDA 3.6m and earnings per share 15p.
The company noted that last year's interim results included 0.2m of losses from H Peel & Sons, which was discontinued at the end of March.
Northern Bear said it continued to invest across its operating companies to support future growth.
Jennings Roofing was preparing to move into the former H Peel & Sons site by the end of December, Wensley Roofing had completed a move to new premises to expand its solar installation work, Isoler had strengthened its compliance team, and Alcor Handling Solutions had added to its materials-handling fleet.
The group said underlying trading remained strong across all divisions in the first half, although some market pressures were emerging at Arcas Building Solutions and Jennings Roofing.
It said it did not expect any market uplift over the next 12 months.
Full-year performance for the 2026 financial year was expected to be broadly consistent with the strong underlying 2025 result after adjusting for last year's one-off losses at H Peel & Sons and this year's non-recurring gain, assuming stable market conditions and no material weather-related disruption.
The forward order book remained stable.
Non-executive chairman Simon Carr said the period's results demonstrated the benefits of continued investment and disciplined cash management.
"I am pleased to report that the group's financial position remains robust, with continued progress being achieved toward our medium-term goals," he said.
"The current performance reflects the benefits of ongoing investment, an element of organic growth, and disciplined cash management, all of which have contributed to a solid set of results for the period."
At 1337 GMT, shares in Northern Bear were down 4.11% at 123.22p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.