(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 21 mag - The UK manufacturer of industrial thread and footwear components Coats said that in the four months to April 30 revenue, excluding its US yarns business, rose a reported 2% and 4% at constant exchange rates.

Coats previously agreed to sell the business and assets of its US yarns business. The deal is expected to complete in June and to generate net cash proceeds of around 16 million dollars.

The business had sales of 68 million dollars and EBIT of 3 million in 2024.

Underlying group EBIT margins continued to improve during the four months, "with further efficiency gains funding investment in our growth drivers," it said.

"Given the positive start to the year and our current order book visibility, we expect the first half performance to reflect an adjusted EBIT margin within our medium-term margin target range of 19-21%," it added.

"Whilst mindful of the dynamic backdrop, our full year expectations remain unchanged, with a broadly equal profit weighting across H1 and H2. We expect another year of strong free cash flow generation, supporting the group's active and flexible capital allocation strategy. We continue to build a pipeline of attractive acquisition targets to further strengthen our portfolio, with the capacity to take advantage.

of any opportunities created by any disruption," Coats said.

(RADIOCOR) 21-05-25 13:28:33 (0388) 5 NNNN