SIG has reassured its shareholders over its group performance despite having issued a profit warning in November.

In a trading update today, 13 January, the company revealed total sales rose 11% year-on-year to £2.74 billion, as a result of a decline in the value of the pound against the euro, and other acquisitions.

In addition, like-for-like sales were up 1.1% in the UK and Ireland, with the Distribution division's sales rising 1.2%. However, its Exteriors arm saw sales drop by 1.5%.

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Elsewhere, European sales declined 0.5%, with particularly weak sales in France and Germany.

Mel Ewell, SIG's interim chief executive, said 2016 had been a "disappointing year" for SIG.

"While the competitive environment, particularly in the UK, was challenging, our transformational change programme, although taking the Group in the right strategic direction, distracted us somewhat from our customers," he said.

"Going forward we need to better balance business change with the day-to-day operations of the group. Our principal aims for 2017 are therefore to restore our customer focus, place an increased emphasis on sales growth, and reduce leverage."

(LM/JP)