The Group enters the second half with strong momentum across our businesses and is firmly positioned to build on the positive first half performance.

We are excited about the new products, such as the expanding range of new cordless lithium tools and innovative accessories, which will be launched. Also, as part of our aggressive strategy to continue achieving progress in operational excellence, we will drive further gains in efficiency across our manufacturing operations, supporting further margin improvement.

In Power Equipment, the MILWAUKEE^®‘s M12^® and M18^® cordless platforms and the RYOBI^®‘s 18-volt ONE+ System^® will continue to see expansion as we add to the ranges and more end-users adopt our highly advanced lithium technology. In Outdoor Products, we will be expanding our lithium cordless product range to capture the growing demand for cordless.

Profitability for Floor Care has shown improvement when compared to the second half of last year. We anticipate that the improvements will continue, supported by a stream of innovative new products and first half operational changes.

With our stable of powerful brands and pipeline of new products, we are confident of delivering another period of record sales and profit.