LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Churchill China reported a resilient profit performance for 2024 on Wednesday, despite a decline in revenue, reflecting continued operational discipline and investment in efficiency across its ceramic manufacturing business.
The AIM-traded firm said revenue for the year ended 31 December fell to £78.3m. from £82.3m in 2023, while profit before tax declined to £8.5m from £10.8m.

EBITDA fell to £11.7m from £13.8m, and earnings per share decreased to 57.9p from 70.2p.

However, Churchill said it maintained a strong focus on margin preservation, supported by improved yields, energy cost control, and ongoing investment in factory automation.

Customer service levels remained high, with 97% of orders delivered the same or next day from stock.

The company also secured significant new project wins both in the UK and internationally, supported by sustained investment in sales and marketing.

Replacement demand remained strong, underpinning the group's position in the hospitality market.

Churchill said it ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of £10.1m, down from £13.9m, but retained a strong balance sheet.

The board proposed a final dividend of 26.5p, bringing the full-year payout to 38p, slightly ahead of the 36p declared in 2023.

"2024 was a challenging year with market contraction driving lower sales," said chief executive officer David O'Connor.

"We continue to address those activities that are within our control; we have accelerated our continuous improvement programme across the factory.

"Correspondingly, yields have improved and we see further opportunities for significant savings through this programme."

O'Connor said that in addition, the company was driving its capital expenditure to focus on innovation and cost reduction through automation and process control.

"We continue to win new installations and projects across all our markets and see strong replacement orders from our installed customer base, which highlights the resilience of our business in this current market downturn.

"We expect to see financial returns from our improvement activities over the coming years as the underlying macro conditions and consumer sentiment improves."

At 1303 BST, shares in Churchill China were up 8.17% at 530.02p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE