LONDON (Alliance News) - Velocity Composites PLC said Thursday trading over the first half of the year had been ahead of expectations and the company expects to breakeven on the back of strong revenue and margin performance.
The engineering company also announced it had begun a fresh search for a new chairman amid a boardroom tussle.
Shares in Velocity were 15% higher at 27.00 pence each on Thursday.
For the six months ended April, Velocity expects adjusted pretax profit to be "marginally ahead of breakeven" after having reported a loss of GBP700,000 the year prior.
Profit performance was helped by revenue for the period being "approximately 5%" ahead of the year prior at just over GBP12 million. The year before, Velocity reported revenue of GBP11.6 million.
Margins also helped boost the bottom line, with gross margins having improved "significantly" to "over 20%" from 15.8% the year before.
Net cash position, however, was broadly in line with the GBP4.1 million reported at the end of October 2018. In addition, net cash flow was "effectively neutral" during the period.
Meanwhile, Velocity has hired search consultants to identify a new non-executive chair of the firm who can "represent the views of all shareholders." The firm had also extended the option for its founding shareholders to meet the shortlist of candidates if they wish to do so.
The search for a new chair follows former executive chair Mark Mills standing down in late March. This was amid an inability of the Velocity board and the founding shareholders - Jonathan Bridges, Christopher Banks and Gerard Johnson - to resolve a conflict over the composition of the board first raised in November.
Once a new chair is hired, the firm will then look to make permanent appointments of both the chief executive officer and chief financial officer.
Velocity Comp (VEL)