Elektron Technology Share News (EKT)

Engineered products developer and manufacturer Elektron swung to a full-year pre-tax loss and said it will continue to face challenging times in the current financial year.Pre-tax losses came to £2.27m in the year ended 31 January compared with a profit of £1.95 last time.However, the group traded profitably, at the operating level before restructuring costs, in the first quarter of the current financial year and expects to be profitable for the full year on the same basis.Sales were slightly up on the previous year to £35.6m from £34.9m previously. On a like-for-like basis sales dropped by 9%.The proposed final dividend is up 2.2% to 0.46p per share."We have confronted the recession head on in order to ensure that the group remains profitable and are now ready to move forward once more. There remain many challenges ahead but we are excited by the opportunities that face us," said chairman Keith Daley.