(Alliance News) - SigmaRoc PLC on Monday said its annual profit dropped as costs rose, but the company maintained a hopeful outlook.

The Dublin-based building materials company, which specialises in lime and limestone, said pretax profit dropped by 34% to GBP28.0 million in 2023 from GBP42.7 million the year before. This was driven by a 51% increase in administrative expenses to GBP98.5 million from GBP65.3 million in 2022.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 8.1% to GBP87.3 million from GBP95.0 million in 2022.

Revenue, however, rose 7.9% to GBP580.3 million from GBP538.0 million a year ago.

SigmaRoc did not declare a dividend, unchanged from the previous year.

Looking ahead, the firm said it remains optimistic in its outlook for the year with respect to "potentially improving demand for newbuild housing as expected interest rate cuts improve the wider construction climate." It added that trading for the first two months of 2024 has been in line with expectations, and therefore leaves its 2024 expectations unchanged.

Shares in SigmaRoc fell 2.7% to 65.80 pence each in London on Monday morning.

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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