LONDON (Alliance News) - Holders Technology PLC Friday said that it swung to a first-half pretax loss, as higher administrative expenses outweighed a slight increase in revenue.
In a statement, the specialised materials, LED components and lighting company said it made a GBP169,000 pretax loss in the half-year ended May 31, compared with a GBP39,000 pretax profit in the corresponding period last year. Revenue increased to GBP6.96 million from GBP6.94 million. However, a small fall in gross margin and an increase in administrative expenses to GBP1.6 million from GBP1.5 million were also reported.
Nevertheless, Executive Chairman Rudolf Weinreich said that Holders Technology expects the second-half to show a "more satisfactory outcome" for its LED activities and that "further progress" will be made to ensure it the company is able to achieve sustained growth in turnover.
"The overall result for the first half was below our expectations, with certain divisions performing better than others," Weinreich said in a statement.
The chairman said that the company's largest printed circuit board division in Germany increased market share during the first half of the current year with newly won business making a "valuable" contribution. However, the UK PCB business was hit by strong competition which hurt revenue and margins. Weinreich added that its India joint venture remained profitable, though he noted that it is a much smaller operation.
LED finished lighting product sales in the UK and Germany improved revenue and profitability, according to Weinreich.
"However, the larger LED components and solutions divisions achieved lower revenue from an increased cost base," he said, noting that the company's move to strengthen its sales and management team resulted in higher costs along with increased participation at European exhibitions.
Holders Technology shares were Friday quoted down 5.2% at 55.00 pence.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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