Spirent first-half revenue falls on order delays after takeover deal

(Alliance News) - Spirent Communications on Friday said its first half was hurt by tough market conditions and some "customer hesitancy" after the test and assurance solutions provider agreed to a takeover.

The Crawley, England-based firm said first-half revenue fell 12% on-year to USD197 million, though the impact on profit was "somewhat mitigated in part by effective cost actions implemented in the last 12 months".

"The outcome reflects some customer order delays, particularly in China where both trade compliance challenges and softness in the economy continue. EMEA delivered good order growth in the first half but, as a smaller part of our portfolio, it was not large enough to offset weakness in other regions," it said.

"We expect challenging market conditions to continue in the second half, which we expect will be reflected in our near-term performance."

In March, Spirent agreed to a GBP1.16 billion takeover by Keysight Technologies, a Santa Rosa, California-based manufacturer of electronics test and measurement equipment and software.

"In the second quarter we experienced delays to contract placements as customers digested the information whilst pleasingly note no order cancellations," Spirent said.

Spirent and Keysight are working with watchdogs to "satisfy all necessary regulatory conditions".

"Keysight and Spirent continue to expect the scheme to become effective during the first half of Keysight's next fiscal year, being 1 November 2024 to 30 April 2025," Spirent added.

Spirent shares fell 2.9% to 176.30 pence each in late dealings on Friday in London.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

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