Churchill dishes it out to Europe

Churchill China's (CHH) focus on product innovation and a shift towards value-added ranges is paying off handsomely, evidenced by a 29 per cent increase in operating profits to £6.4m. Our prospective exit from the EU also indirectly added £1.6m to the top line through favourable exchange rates, although another Brexit-related effect, a sharp contraction in gilt yields, meant that Churchill's retirement benefit obligations increased by £4.8m to £8.7m.

Churchill's exports into Europe have benefited from anti-dumping duties on imports from China. But asked whether Theresa May's assertion that "no deal is better than a bad deal" spells potential trouble for the company on the export front, Churchill's finance director David Taylor pointed out that duties on ceramic products under existing World Trade Organization arrangements amount to 6 per cent - and sterling has already lost around 15 per cent of its value since the referendum. Non-sterling costs are in the minority, at about a fifth of the total.

N+1 Singer expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £7.1m and EPS of 51.1p for the December 2017 year-end (up from £6.6m and 48.6p in 2016).