SIG plc, the Sheffield-based international building materials supplier, has reported group like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 2% to £636 million for the quarter to March 31, 2025.
“Whilst demand in all markets remains significantly below historical levels, with European construction at a low point in the cycle, there have been signs of further volume stabilisation in the majority of our markets,” said SIG.
“The benefits of ongoing commercial and operational initiatives are enabling the business to outperform local markets, with particularly strong performance in the UK and Germany.
“We are seeing clear early signs of improvement in the UK Interiors business, in both top and bottom line performance, following the appointment of a new Managing Director six months ago.
“The French businesses are continuing to perform robustly relative to a particularly challenging market. We expect their LFL growth to improve over the balance of the year, not least as comparators soften.
“Actions to manage near-term margin pressure and to strengthen our operating platform under our ‘GEMS’ strategy are ongoing. Alongside ongoing targeted investment to support our strategic growth opportunities, the benefits from productivity and cost initiatives will contribute incrementally as the year progresses.”
In its outlook, SIG said: “Market conditions in 2025 to date are as expected, and our outlook for the full year remains unchanged.
“We continue to believe that, to the extent there is the start of a recovery within 2025, it is more likely to drive demand in the second half of the year.
“We are mindful of very recent developments in the global economy, notably with respect to tariffs. The vast majority of our purchases are within Europe, and most are made within the country in which the products are sold. As such we expect little direct impact from any potential changes in cross border tariffs, but will remain watchful of any broader impact on both inflation and market demand.
“As noted previously, the operational gearing in our business model applies equally strongly in conditions of rising demand, and, accordingly, the Board believes the Group remains very well positioned to benefit from the market recovery when it occurs.
SIG CEO Gavin Slark said: “The Group has made an encouraging start to the year. Whilst we continue to experience weak demand in our end-markets across the UK and EU, we are navigating through this successfully. We are creating better performing businesses across the Group, which will help to significantly improve our future profitability and cash generation when markets recover.”