Heywood Williams, the British modular housing-to-conservatory company, said that it expected UK sales to remain flat this year.

It said that pre-tax profit had risen 14% to £5m on an increased turnover of £134m, up from £123m, for the six months to 2 July.

Profit after tax at Heywood Williams returned to the black at £3.4m after it posted a loss of £18.2m in the corresponding period last year.

It said the improvement was a result of a restructuring undertaken last year.

In its stock market statement the company said that trading in its UK hardware division had been challenging in the first half of the year and that it expected the market to lack buoyancy for the rest of this year.