Photo / Jason OxenhamFletcher Building exceeded its own forecast by earning 47 per cent more operating profit in the latest half-year, rising from $219 million to $323m. Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor said: "The strong result reflects good progress made on our strategy to drive consistent performance and growth. Group EBIT margins improved to 8.1 per cent from 5.5 per cent with improvement across all operating divisions. The board also expects to be in a position to approve a final FY21 dividend," Taylor said. EBIT was forecast to rise from last year's $219m to $308m, underlying profit from $107m to $178m but no dividend was forecast.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 16, 2021 19:41 UTC