Companies: JHD   

Vinyl flooring manufacturer James Halstead shrugged off a slight reduction in turnover to £93m, caused by the disposal of its Conway Products division last year, to report a record £11.3m profit (£10.7m) for the year to June. Finance director Gordon Oliver explains: 'Basically, we had a business in Conway that went up in smoke, so this year's figures are not a true like-for-like comparison.' In 2001 Conway, a manufacturer of folding campers and trailers, contributed around £2m of revenue and a small profit to the group coffers. Despite the impressive profits growth, however, not everything has run smoothly. Halstead's US distributor, fully-listed Low & Bonar, had to be replaced recently, having 'significantly underperformed against the previous year'. And, as chairman Geoffrey Halstead points out, the German market in particular has endured a difficult 12 months. Nevertheless, Halstead's record figures mean the management now presides over an improved £13.8m (£10.1m) cash-pile with which to grow the business. Investors will also welcome news of the 7.8% dividend hike to 13.75p, which affords the company a strong yield of 5.3%. Hold.