It was an improvement on last time when losses were £33.1m as turnover dipped to £1.29bn from £1.3bn.

SIG bosses are braced for tough market conditions to continue this year “and possibly throughout 2027.”

The company is accelerating its efficiency drive which is expected to save £100m by the end of next year as underperforming businesses will be closed or sold-off.

Pim Vervaat, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Group delivered a resilient performance in the first six months of the year despite challenging markets exacerbated by poor weather in the first quarter.  For FY 2026 we are expecting to deliver c.£25m of operating profit whilst improving the Group’s net debt position in the second half.

“The markets are not anticipated to recover during the remainder of 2026 and possibly throughout 2027.

“Against this backdrop we are accelerating and extending our self-help plan which aims to generate cash of at least £100m by the end of 2027 and improve the underlying operating profit by £50m (run rate mid 2028), reducing the Group’s leverage to below 3.0x. The Group has, and expects to maintain, a healthy level of liquidity going forward.

“The Vision 2030 strategy is making good overall progress towards building a higher quality European specialist distribution platform aiming to generate 3% to 5% operating margin through the cycle whilst generating cash.”