LONDON (ShareCast) - Joinery and kitchen group Galiform saw a solid underlying performance in the first six months of 2008, but sales slowed towards the end of the half and that trend has continued.

Interim profits fell from £24.1m to £21.6m in the six months to 14 June on sales of £355m down from £429m.

Those figures, though, reflected the final parts of its separation from MFI. Sales at the ongoing Howden Joinery depot business rose by 9.6% to £343m with like-for-like sales up by 4.3%.

Galiform added however that strong sales growth achieved in the first 20 weeks of the year moderated to 4.5% in June. Sales in July fell to 3.3% and Galiform is cautious going forward.

"We are not expecting the economic environment to improve in the short term and will continue to manage the business in light of prevailing conditions," it said.

That more more cautious approach includes its expansion programme with only five depots to open in the second half, compared with 15 in the first and nearly 60 last year.

There is no interim dividend, but Galiform says it intends to pay a final unless conditions really deteriorate.

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