Trading Update
20 October 2026
TRIFAST PLC
(“Trifast” or the “Company”)
Trading Update
Trading in line with market expectations
Trifast plc ("Trifast" or the "Group", LSE: TRI.L), the international specialist in the design, engineering, manufacture, and distribution of high-quality engineered fastenings, provides a trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2026 (‘H1 FY27’ or the ‘period’) ahead of the publication of its half-year results on 17 November 2026.
Trading update
Trading in the current financial year to date is in line with market expectations1.
Revenue decline in the period moderated to approximately 4.2% year-on-year (H1 FY26: 7.1%), as anticipated, reflecting the strategic decision to focus on the quality of revenue over volume.
This was primarily driven by a return to growth in the UK and increased stability in Europe, partly offset by softer demand in the Automotive industry in North America and Asia, with revenue from our planned operations in Saudi Arabia also being impacted by the continued disruption in the Middle East.
Gross margin remained in line with H1 FY26 at 28.7% and encouragingly underlying EBIT margin improved further by approximately 80 basis points year-on-year to 7.4%2, reflecting operational efficiencies, cost discipline and the benefits of transformation initiatives.
The Group’s balance sheet remains robust and leverage remains below 1x3. Our transformation projects continue to be funded by working capital improvements including Project Ignite which is expected to successfully conclude in H2 FY27.
Investing for growth
In response to customer demand for local inventory, shorter lead times and domestic delivery, the Group is investing in establishing a distribution platform in Mexico. Building this capability in Mexico will help enhance existing customer relationships, improve responsiveness and competitiveness, and open new opportunities across our Automotive, Smart Infrastructure and Medical end markets. The Group expects to invest approximately £4.6m in H2 FY27/H1 FY28 in the development of its Mexico distribution platform, which is expected to become operational during FY28.
Furthermore, the Group is delighted to open our new distribution centre in Chennai on 21 October, expanding capacity and strengthening service resilience in South India. The facility supports the continued growth of the Group’s Indian business, where demand is being driven predominantly by Smart Infrastructure, and provides a scalable platform to capture further growth in this attractive market.
Outlook
The Board remains confident in delivering further margin improvement in H2 FY27, targeting double-digit EBIT margins in the period, ahead of our stated timeframe. Our commitment to delivering high-quality revenue growth, continued margin improvement and cash generation is unchanged, notwithstanding the continued macroeconomic challenges, supported by our strongest ever commercial pipeline, and increasing customer demand for supply chain and engineered solutions in our key sectors.
The Board remains confident in the Group's medium-term prospects and in the continued progress being made under the Recover, Rebuild, Resilience strategy.
Notice of Half-year results
The Group’s Half-year report for the six months ended 30 September 2026 is scheduled to be published on Tuesday, 17 November 2026 via the Regulatory News Service (RNS). The report will also be available on the Group website at www.trifast.com.
An in-person and virtual presentation will be held at OSiT, 46 New Broad Street, London EC2M 1JH on Tuesday, 17 November 2026 at 10:00 am.
Shareholders who wish to view the presentation remotely should register for the event in advance via the following link: https://brrmedia.news/TRI_HY26. A relay will be made available on the Trifast plc website.
Notes:
1 In so far as the Company is aware, as at October 2026, consensus market expectations for the year ending 31 March 2027 were for revenue of £214m, and adjusted EBIT of £18.2m. The consensus is based on the company-compiled consensus of analyst estimates. These estimates are analysts' forecasts and are not produced or endorsed by Trifast.
2 with H1 FY26 underlying EBIT margin of 6.6%, restated from 6.3% following the reclassification of Project Ignite from capital expenditure to separately disclosed items at the end of last year.
3 The leverage ratio is calculated using adjusted underlying EBITDA and adjusted net interest, excluding the impact of IFRS 16 lease accounting and other adjustments specified within the facility agreement.
Unless stated otherwise, amounts and comparisons with the prior period are calculated at constant currency (Constant Exchange Rate (CER)). Where reference is made to ‘underlying’ this is defined as being before separately disclosed items.
Enquiries:
Trifast plc
Iain Percival, Chief Executive Officer
Kate Ferguson, Chief Financial Officer
Christopher Morgan FCG, Company Secretary
Office: +44 (0) 1825 747630
Email: corporate.enquiries@trifast.com
Shareholders: companysecretariat@trifast.com
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)
Sara Hale
Graham Hertrich
Dan Ingram
Tel: +44 (0) 207 496 3000
Berenberg (Joint Broker)
Harry Nicholas
Ciaran Walsh
Christopher Whitaker
Tel: +44 (0) 203 207 7800
IFC Advisory (Financial PR & IR)
Graham Herring
Tim Metcalfe
Zach Cohen
Tel: +44 (0) 203 934 6632
Editors' notes
About Trifast plc (LSE Main listing: symbol: TRI)
In 2023, TR celebrated 50 years of business with a proud heritage of serving customers with engineered fastening supply chain solutions. Specialising in the design, engineering, manufacture, and distribution of high-quality engineered fastenings and Category 'C' components principally for major global assembly industries. As an international business we can provide customer support from across key regions in the UK & Ireland, Asia, Europe, and North America. In addition to our service locations, we operate manufacturing facilities focused on high volume cold forged fasteners and special parts. We have also established Engineering & innovation centres to support R&D and customer collaboration across the world. The Group supplies to customers in c.65 countries across a wide range of industries, including Automotive, Smart Infrastructure and Medical Equipment. As a full-service provider to multinational OEMs and Tier 1 companies spanning several sectors, we deliver comprehensive support to our customers across every requirement, from concept design through to technical engineering consultancy, manufacturing, supply management, and global logistics.
We have defined a clear purpose and vision:
To sustainably drive our customers’ success by simplifying their fastener supply chain and supporting them in their technical requirements through our world-class engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
For more information, visit:
TRIFAST PLC TRI Stock | London Stock Exchange
website: www.trifast.com
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/tr-fastenings
Trifast, TR and TR Fastenings are registered trademarks of the Company
LEI number: 213800WFIVE6RWK3CR22
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