Building products specialist Epwin (EPWN) saw revenue stay flat at £282m in 2019. This came as the second half of the year was impacted by poor weather conditions and Brexit and election uncertainty. Underlying operating profit increased by over a tenth to £21.2m thanks to price increases and improved material costs.
The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the group to pause all activity from 25 March, which is guided to have a material impact on trading this year. But Epwin believes it has sufficient liquidity to withstand a significant loss of revenue. Excluding £71m in lease liabilities, net debt came down over a third in 2019, to £16.4m, equivalent to 0.6 times adjusted cash profits (Ebitda). The group has £45m of headroom on its £75m of banking facilities.
