Hill & Smith Confirms Alan Giddins Executive Chair for 12

By Anthony O. Goriainoff

Hill & Smith said Thursday that Alan Giddins formally assumed the role of executive chair for an expected period of 12 to 18 months, and that it forecasts operating profit for the year to be modestly ahead of the top end of analyst expectations.

The U.K.-based supplier of infrastructure products said Giddins has been undertaking the role since July on an interim basis and that this move will provide the company with continuity and stability as it executes on its strategy "at pace." It added that Giddins will revert to his nonexecutive Chair position once a chief executive has been recruited.

Hill & Smith said revenue for the four-month period to April 30 grew 18% on a constant currency basis, and that the engineered solutions division delivered record revenue and operating profit in the period.

The company said that current company-compiled analyst consensus for 2023 underlying operating profit was 107 million pounds ($132.3 million) within a range of GBP105.2 million to GBP110.2 million.

"We remain positive on the medium to longer term outlook, supported by strong market growth drivers for sustainable infrastructure," the company said.

Shares at 0703 GMT were up 30 pence, or 2.2%, at 1,396 pence.

Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at [email protected]

It's been an eventful week for crypto. Earlier this week, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on crypto with two lawsuits filed against two large and popular exchanges in the United States, Binance and Coinbase COIN.

Dow Jones Newswires is a market-moving financial and business news source, used by wealth managers, institutional investors and fintech platforms around the world to identify trading and investing opportunities, strengthen advisor-client relationships and build investor experiences. Learn More.