Hunter Douglas saw results rise sharply in the first half of 2021, with the second quarter even better than the first three months, compared to the same period a year earlier. This appeared on Tuesday from a quarterly update of the manufacturer of blinds.

Revenue in the first six months of this year increased by almost 44 percent year-on-year to $ 2.24 billion. That revenue growth was 40 percent due to higher volumes. Currency effects also contributed 4%. In the second quarter, sales growth was almost 65 percent.

All regions contributed to higher turnover in the first six months. Relatively, Latin America performed the worst, with sales growth of 23 percent.

The EBITDA rose much faster in the last six months, from 164.5 million to 436 million dollars. Net profit almost tenfold, from $ 28.5 million to $ 262.5 million.

Thanks to these growth rates, Hunter Douglas ‘ operating cash flow rose from just under $ 60 million to $ 201 million.

The outlook is positive, according to Hunter Douglas,

“but there are uncertainties about when consumer discretionary spending patterns will normalize, the development of COVID-19, and the impact of inflation on interest rates and economies,” the manufacturer warned.

A concrete outlook was not issued.

Founder Ralph Sonnenberg is currently trying to completely buyback Hunter Douglas. However, its bid of € 82.00 per share is still insufficient to secure 95 percent of the shares, which is necessary to start a smoking process on Euronext, the stock exchange company has already confirmed.

Hunter Douglas, on the other hand, is of the opinion that a smoke-out procedure can be initiated, because Sonnenberg owns more than the 90 percent of the shares mentioned in the articles of association. According to the rules in Curaçao, where Hunter Douglas is based, this gives room to start such a procedure.

“Absolutely, no doubt,” said Hunter Douglas CFO Leen Reijtenbagh in a comment at the time. But, Reijtenbagh added,” It doesn’t matter, because there is currently no intention to start a smoking procedure”.

On June 18, Sonnenberg owned 87.84 percent of the shares. Including preference shares, the founder was 93.59 percent. The major shareholder then confirmed that he would not initiate a smoke-out procedure.

The Hunter Douglas stock closed on Monday at 90.30 euros. That’s well above Sonnenberg’s offer.