Holders Technology swings to a profit despite struggling LED wing

(Sharecast News) - LED solutions provider Holders Technology told investors it had swung to a profit when turning in its interim results on Friday.Holders saw revenue increase 6.8% to £6.2m, helping boost the AIM-listed firm's pre-tax profit to £65,000 from the loss of £53,000 seen in 2017.The group said that 2.3% of its revenue improvement was as a result of the Euro strengthening against the Pound.While printed circuit board margins dropped from 23.9% to 23.2%, overheads as a percentage of sales decreased from 17.2% to 16.4%, leading to a 1.2% improvement in the division's pre-tax profit of £159,000.Over at its LED wing, revenues grew by 17.9% to £1.42m and gross margins moved from 31.4% to 33.7%.Despite this, Holders' LED division still turned in a loss of £38,000, although this was significantly narrowed from the £194,000 loss reported a year earlier.Holders' chairman, Rudolf Weinrich, said: "The board is encouraged that a profitable result overall has been achieved for the first half.""The PCB divisions operate in a mature sector, but we see potential growth opportunities from a number of new products and efficiency gains from additional investments. The LED divisions have made good progress and achieved a strong order book," he added.As of 0920 BST, Holders shares had shot up 9.09% to 48p.