(Alliance News) - Quixant PLC on Tuesday said it now expects 2019 revenue to come in below previous forecasts, resulting in at least 9% decline in annual profit, due to a further slowdown of orders from some large customers.
Quixant shares were trading 46% lower on Tuesday in London at 163.00 pence each.
The company, which provides technology products for gaming and broadcast industries, said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June declined by more than a half to USD3.0 million from USD6.1 million, as revenue fell by 17% to USD41.9 million from USD50.3 million.
"The first six months of 2019 have seen a deepening in the slow-down of ordering by some large customers," explained Chief Executive Jon Jayal. "The second half began with better ordering from some of these customers, but we have now been informed that order levels will not return to those achieved in previous years both for the rest of this year and for at least the first half of 2020."
Quixant said its revenue has historically been second half-weighted and it expects this trend to be reflected in full year results. However, the company noted that, while this second-half weighting will occur, due to lower than expected demand for customers' gaming machines, Quixant's annual revenue will be below previous expectations. This will result in a reduction in annual profit to between USD12.0 million and USD13.0 million compared to USD14.3 million generated in 2018.