9 September 2014 – interim results
In the six months to 30 June, group revenues fell to £19.8m (2013: £21.4m) with sales in the EMS business falling by 15% partly due to currency headwinds and the effect of a number of buy orders received ahead of the Rugby sire closure last year. However profits at the business improved significantly due to reorganisation at the group. Revenues at the Technology Products group rose by 24% and the order book is 50% higher than it was at the year end. Profits here were slightly lower than the same period last year due to increased investment in the business although the benefits of this expenditure will be seen going forward. Overall adjusted pre-tax profit for the group rose to £0.9m (2013: £0.4m) with earnings per share on the same basis rising to 2.6p (2013: 1.0p). The interim dividend was raised by 55% to 0.7p (2013: 0.45p) and net cash at the year end was £0.8m. With the second half likely to produce a better performance, full year adjusted pre-tax profits are likely to emerge at £2.7m for earnings per share of 7p. Further significant growth is expected in 2015 and we maintain our recommendation of BUY.