SIG feels winter chill as it posts £77m loss

Interiors company SIG saw a slight drop in revenue during 2010 which it partly blamed on the freezing conditions during both winters in the year.

Revenues dropped 2% from £2.72bn in 2009 to £2.67bn in 2010.

Pre-tax profit edged slightly up, rising 3% to £62.5m. Yet taking into account extraordinary items, such as the firm’s restructuring costs, SIG actually made a loss of £76.8m, significantly more than its £45.1m loss in 2009.

Most this loss was down to ballooning impairment charges which rose almost £50m to £80.4m for the year. Restructuring costs also contributed £21.8m.

Chris Davies, chief executive, said freezing weather during 2010 had hit the company.

“The group experienced extreme winter weather conditions in all its geographies in the first quarter of 2010 which affected construction site activity and consequently demand for SIG’s products and services.  Harsh weather was also a feature of the fourth quarter, with trading in December disrupted by what, in many of our territories, were the coldest temperatures for more than a century,” he said.

SIG also announced they had secured a new £250m four year revolving credit facility with four banks.