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LONDON (Alliance News) - Tandem Group PLC Friday increased its dividend despite swinging into a pretax loss, as it said that it expects the group to be profitable for the full year, although it did not expect to fully recover its revenue position.
The sports-and-leisure equipment company declared an interim dividend of 1.15 pence, up from 1.10 pence in the previous year, despite its trading challenges. Its sales order book is significantly ahead of last year, Tandem said, and it expects the second half of the year to be cash generative.
For the half year ended June 30 Tandem posted a pretax loss of GBP498,000, down from a pretax profit of GBP193,000 in the previous year. The company posted revenues of GBP11.3 million, down from GBP14.4 million.
Revenues were hampered by a 19% decrease in the sale of bicycles and accessories, which the company said was due to poor weather conditions and reduced sales in its bicycle business. Sports, leisure, and toy revenues declined 25.5%, although the company said that the performance of new licenses, such as video game tie-in Skylanders, and its Peppa Pig range continued to show growth.
Shares were trading down 9.8% at 87.00 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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