LONDON (ShareCast) - Glass mineral fibre insulation products manufacturer Superglass reported a rise in first-half pre-tax profits and said it remains optimistic about its second-half prospects.

Pre-tax profit rose to £1.1m in the six months ended 29 February from £401,000 last time, however, turnover fell 4.2% to £20.5m.

Sales in the first half were affected by a delay in the implementation of the Government's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) which had originally been expected to commence in the first quarter of 2008.

“Our plant is in excellent condition and with greater production capacity than ever before, we are eagerly awaiting the sales opportunities presented by the CERT programme,” said chairman Tim Ross.

“Now that the programme is officially underway, we expect increasing levels of demand. Against this background, we remain confident of the out-turn for the full year,” he added.

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