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LONDON (Alliance News) - Security and surveillance systems developer Petards Group PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit was higher in the first half thanks to gross margin improvements which offset a decline in revenue.
Petards said its pretax profit increased to GBP356,000 in the six months to June 30 from GBP273,000 a year earlier, despite revenue falling to GBP6.1 million from GBP7.2 million. This fall in revenue was offset by a big decline in the group's cost of sales in the half to GBP3.9 million from GBP5.2 million, which slightly outpaced the sales decline. The group's gross margin in the half improved to 36.4% from 27.4% a year earlier.
The company said its order book has remained strong, at GBP19.0 million at the end of the half, with solid revenue cover for the remainder of the year and beyond. Around 40% of the revenue is set to be delivered in the second half.
The group won a number of key contracts in the first half, including over GBP2.5 million worth of orders for its EyeTrain CCTV systems under its framework agreement with manufacturers Siemens and Hitachi.
"The continued strength of the order book at June 30 provides good support for revenues for the second half of 2015, with around 40% currently scheduled for delivery before the year end, giving the board confidence for a satisfactory outcome for the year," said Chairman Raschid Abdullah.
Petards shares were up 12% to 13.00 pence on Tuesday morning, one of the best performers in the AIM All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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