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(Alliance News) - Renishaw PLC on Thursday said its performance in the first half of its current financial year was hurt by a "challenging" global macroeconomic environment.
The engineering company said pretax profit declined to GBP9.9 million in the six months to the end of 2019 compared to GBP61.6 million a year earlier, as revenue fell to GBP259.4 million from GBP296.7 million.
Renishaw said its performance deteriorated across all regions due to the global macroeconomic environment, including the uncertainty caused by trade tensions between the US and China and weaker demand in the machine tool sector.
Renishaw maintained its interim payout at 14.00 pence a share.
In addition, the FTSE 250-listed company took restructuring costs of GBP2.2 million, amid actions to reduce expenses. These included the non-replacement of staff who have left the business, reductions in direct manufacturing staff in the UK, Ireland and India, and the planned closure of the Staffordshire site in February.
Renishaw's headcount at the end of 2019 was 4,871, a net reduction of 170 since June 2019.
Looking ahead, the company said it has noted some positive indications of recovery in the semiconductor market, but trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in 2020.
As a result, Renishaw said it expect full-year revenue to be in the range of GBP530 million to GBP560 million, while pretax profit is seen in the range of GBP38 million to GBP58 million.
In its financial 2019, the company reported pretax profit of GBP109.9 million on revenue of GBP574.0 million.
Renishaw shares were trading 1,2% higher in London on Thursday at 4,208.00p each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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