Fatter order book at Concurrent

High-end embedded computer products maker Concurrent Technologies saw sales and profits slip in the first half of 2010 but chairman Michael Collins believes better times are on their way as an economic recovery in the telecommunications and industrial sectors has begun.The company made profit before tax of £1.00m in the first half of 2010, down from £1.37m last year, on turnover that eased to £5.4m from £6.5m.The debt free company had net cash and equivalents at the end of June of £4.6m."As reported in July 2010 we had expected a defence related order for delivery this year but this has been deferred into next year with a consequential effect on this year's turnover. Apart from this, our current order book (up substantially on this time last year) and immediate sales prospects give us confidence for the future," said Collins.Three new products will be released during the second half of 2010. In addition design work has already commenced on applying next generation higher performance technology to more new products which will be available in early 2011.The interim dividend has been increased by 10% to 0.55p from 0.5p last year.