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(Sharecast News) - Filtronic reported a sharp increase in revenue and profitability for the six months ended 30 November on Tuesday, driven by strong order inflow and expanded manufacturing capacity.
The AIM-traded firm said revenue rose to £25.6m from £8.5m a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA increased to £8.7m from £0.2m.
Operating profit reached £6.8m, reversing a loss of £0.4m in the prior-year period, with profit for the period at £6.7m compared to a loss of £0.5m.
Basic earnings per share were 3.08p, swinging from a loss of 0.24p per share.
The company highlighted strong demand from SpaceX under its strategic partnership, alongside progress in technology development and an expanded engineering team, which grew by 16%, including a new design team in Cambridge.
Two new production lines were installed to support revenue growth, as the company maintained a solid cash position to continue investing in its strategic plan.
Since the period ended, Filtronic further strengthened its leadership team with three key appointments and reported continued strong order intake in the second half, leading to two material upgrades to market expectations in the last two months.
"We are pleased to communicate these strong set of interim results," said chairman Jonathan Neale.
"Robust order intake has resulted in the improved revenue and profit outlook in the second half which we communicated in market upgrades in December and January.
"Investing in the business to underpin the order book has been timely and effective and we look forward to being able to communicate more about the next financial year as things develop during the second half."
At 0947 GMT, shares in Filtronic were down 2.84% at 96.67p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
