Filta shares rally over 19% on strong European and North American trading

Filta Group Holdings PLC (LON:FLTA) have seen their shares rally 19% following strong expectations from the firm.

The firm said that they expect to deliver a better performance in 2020, following progress made in the final quarter of 2019.

Filta Group Holdings plc is a provider of fryer management and other services to commercial kitchens.

Shares in Filta trade at 167p (+19.29%). 13/2/20 12:57BST.

The company remained confident in their expectations, as they forecasted to report adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of £3.2 million on turnover of approximately £25 million.

Filta praised the strong performance of the North American and European business sectors. Both these divisions delivered results in line with expectations.

Notably, the UK company too actions to deliver costs savings of around £100,000 per month.

Filta told shareholders that they made strong progress in the final quarter of 2019, with “strong interest” from potential business in North America.

Jason Sayers, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“The acquisition of Watbio in December 2018 was a significant transaction for the Group, given that it is a well-established company with a high-quality customer base and was almost twice the size of Filta’s existing UK business. The rationale and opportunities presented by the acquisition remain compelling but, as previously reported, we did encounter some challenges in 2019 as we sought to integrate Watbio with our existing FOG and Seal business. However, following a number of management changes, new hires and investment in software systems, it is pleasing to report that these difficulties have now been addressed, and we look forward to delivering the higher margins of which we know the business is capable.

At the same time, Filta’s North America business continues to grow through our focus on helping franchisees to improve and expand their own operations, which is increasing the level of reoccurring royalty revenues flowing to the Company”.

Filta’s second half expectations

In November, the firm gave a confident update to shareholders.

The filtration-focused engineering firm expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation to be “similar” to the £1.7 million reported for the first six months of the year.

Filta alluded to the fact that order books continued to remain strong, and new franchisees continue to show interest and the firm remains confident of delivering further growth.

Management decided to divert resources to catch up on an order backlog in its UK Fat, Oils & Grease unit.

In addition, a small installation operation is also expected to be delayed, until early 2020.

Filta have seen an excellent update today, and the firm should hope that shareholders can remain optimistic for future trading.

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