The company behind the famous Hills Hoist clothes line has made a sizeable profit after selling off its steel business to focus on health and security devices.
Hills Limited has posted a half year net profit of $14.1 million for the six months to December 31, a significant improvement on the loss of $73.6 million for the same period the previous year.
The manufacturer and distributor of products ranging from scaffolding to security systems has undergone a major restructure in the past 18 months, including the selloff of its steel assets to BlueScope Steel.
The selloff, due to be completed by the end of February, will result in net cash proceeds of about $80 million.
Hills chief executive Ted Pretty said the company was more streamlined and focused on technology and innovation in the high-growth area of health and security.
"The restructure has involved closing unprofitable businesses which is now largely complete," he told AAP.
"It was painful restructuring within the first few months but we are starting to see the benefits of that in the balance sheet which is now debt free.
"We enter the second half of FY14 having built strong momentum over the previous six months to achieve our earnings targets," he said in Tuesday's statement.
Hills expected full year underlying profit to be in the range of $26 million to $28 million, he said.
The company declared a fully-franked interim dividend of 3.4 cents per share. There was no dividend in the pervious corresponding period.
Hills' shares were up nine cents to $1.84 at 1125 AEDT on Tuesday.
