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(Alliance News) - Volex PLC on Wednesday reported a robust set of interim results, citing strong customer demand, and reaffirmed a positive outlook for the remainder of the year.
In the six months ended October 2, the power product manufacturer reported a pretax profit of USD21.5 million, up 11% from GBP19.4 million the previous year.
Volex said the rise in profit was underpinned by "robust" customer demand and the "proactive" management of inflationary cost increases.
"We are winning new projects across our business with both new and existing customers. Although some challenges around the availability of selected components and variability in lead times remain, the situation continues to improve," it said.
Revenue in the half rose to USD357.5 million from USD292.7 million, representing growth of 22% year-on-year. At constant exchange rates, organic revenue growth was 14%.
Volex noted particularly strong momentum for its Electric Vehicles sector, with organic revenue rising 53% against the prior year. This compared to 3.6% growth for its Consumer Electricals sector and 12% growth for its Medical sector.
"Consumer demand for electric vehicles continues to accelerate as the technology becomes widely adopted and the range of vehicles and manufacturers expands," the firm explained.
The Basingstoke, England-based firm declared an interim dividend of 1.3 pence per share, up from 1.2p previously.
Looking ahead, Volex said it was heading into the second half of its financial year with a clear strategy, a strong pipeline of customer project opportunities and significant momentum from the growth experienced in the first half.
The company, while "mindful" of broader macroeconomic developments, said it is confident in delivering its long-term objects as well as meeting full-year consensus market expectations.
Current consensus expectations for full-year revenue is USD691.7 million. Expectations for underlying operating profit is USD62.8 million.
In its last financial year, which ended April 3, revenue totalled USD614.6 million and underlying operating profit was USD56.2 million.
Shares in Volex were down 3.9% at 262.43 pence on Wednesday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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