BRADFORD'S Safestyle UK has reduced its pre-tax losses by more than half and its turnaround is "on track" according to the company's latests results released today.

The PVCu windows and doors firm, which has its headquarters in Manningham, has seen pre-tax losses reduce by £3.2 million in the first six months of 2019, falling from £5.7m to £2.5m.

A three-phase turnaround plan was implemented after the company made a £16m loss before tax last year, as revenue fell by more than £40m.

In contrast, in the first half of this year, revenue increased by 6.4 per cent, from £60.5m to £64.4m.

Today, the firm, which employs around 1,000 people in Yorkshire and 2,000 nationally, said its turnaround was on track, adding: "The implementation of phase two of the three-phase turnaround is making good progress; the focus for phase two is returning the Group to profitability."

It added that the business returned to profitability in the second quarter of 2019 with levels forecast to increase in the second half of the year.

In terms of outlook, Safestyle said: "Despite a challenging market where consumer demand appears soft across the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) market, the Board expects a further increase in profitability during Q3 and into Q4 of this year.

"The Board remains highly focussed on ensuring that the trajectory of performance is carried through into 2020 with the aim to achieve acceleration in growth in revenue and profitability next year as part of phase three of the Group’s turnaround plan.

"To ensure the Group maintains its current momentum through the end of the year into Q1 2020, the Board is anticipating an increase in the levels of investment required in lead generation versus those previously projected and when compared to those of previous years.

"The Board also expects revenue to be marginally below previous expectations, although still expects double-digit growth in H2 versus the prior year alongside continued gains in market share.

"Consequently, the Board now expects a small underlying loss before taxation of c.£0.5m for the full year."

It added that this will give the firm "the best possible base from which to accelerate its revenue, margin and profit growth in 2020" and that it therefore "remains comfortable" with market expectations for 2020.

Today's figures show that Safestyle installed a total of 98,966 frames during the first half of this year, which is broadly in line with the 99,491 in the same period of last year. This is a 16.9 per cent improvement on the second half of last year.

In addition the firm has also started to recover its market share, which measured by FENSA, is 8.6 per cent in the first half of this year, compared to 7.0 per cent in the second half of 2018.

The average price per frame is also up by 8.6 per cent to £669.

Safestyle also said that improvements in operational efficiencies and cost reductions in a number of areas have underpinned the recovery in profitability.

CEO Mike Gallacher, said: “We are making strong progress on delivery of the second phase of our three phase turnaround plan. We have increased our revenues, improved our margins and reduced costs and as a result the Group returned to profitability in Q2. We expect this to continue into Q3 and the momentum to be sustained through to the end of the year.

"The Board and I are hugely encouraged by the progress we are making as we look to turnaround the performance of our business and build on our position as the UK market leader in the RMI industry. We believe we have an enviable position in this market with a strong, recognisable brand and a great value proposition. We also have highly skilled and dedicated people across the entire organisation.

"There remains a lot of hard work to do, but it is rewarding that we are beginning to see the results of the work completed so far. We remain wholly focussed on modernising the business, improving customer service, strengthening our processes and leveraging technology whilst striving to make the business the industry benchmark in all areas of compliance. We believe delivery of these objectives, along with a relentless focus on maximising opportunities for growth, will position Safestyle for success in the years to come.”

Last year the company suffered "significant business disruption", caused by a legal battle with "an aggressive new market entrant", Safeglaze UK.

After a settlement was reached in September 2018, ordering Safeglaze to change its name, Safestyle said it made a "a substantial recovery".