Progress at Coats Group continues with the international threads and footwear components producer enjoying double-digit sales growth with trading “in line with expectations”.

Those gains for the H1 2024 period so far (1 July-31 October) saw apparel-related revenues jump 14% at constant exchange rates (CER) while footwear-related revenues were also up 7%. However, sustained weakness in its performance materials saw its sales slip 3%, giving an overall group revenue rise of 8% (or +10% on a reported basis).

Coats said its Apparel and Footwear divisions “continued to benefit from a return to normalised levels of customer buying and inventory patterns, with both divisions showing strong year-on-year growth… albeit against a weaker prior year comparator due to the impact of destocking in 2023”.

And the outlook? “As a result of the strong overall group sales growth, alongside continued delivery of our strategic projects, we expect to deliver a full year operating margin of around 18%”.

Full year performance is expected to be in line with market expectations and the group remains “well positioned” for the medium term, supported by good momentum in our Apparel and Footwear Divisions and strong cash generation”.

New chief executive David Paja added that his visit to key sites in his first couple of months “has confirmed my view that we have a premium quality business, executing well with opportunities for further improvement, and a strong platform for future profitable growth.”