Financial highlights:
· Group order intake up 5% to £56.7m (2012: £53.9m)
- Closing order book of £106.5m (31 October 2012: £107.2m; 30 April 2013: £107.3m)
· Revenue down 6% to £57.5m (2012: £61.2m)
· Operating profit down 63% to £5.3m (2012: £14.3m)
· Profit before tax down 64% to £5.1m (2012: £14.3m)
· Diluted earnings per share down 65% to 1.2p (2012: 3.4p)
· Net debt of £6.0m (31 October 2012: net cash £16.8m; 30 April 2013: net debt £0.9m)
· Interim dividend unchanged at 0.575p per share (2012: 0.575p per share)
Statutory results:
· Revenue from continuing operations of £57.5m (2012: £61.2m)
· Operating profit from continuing operations of £1.8m (2012: £11.3m), after:
- share based payments charge of £0.7m (2012: £1.8m)
- amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £2.4m (2012: £1.2m)
- restructuring costs of £0.4m (2012: £nil)
· Profit from continuing operations before tax of £1.6m (2012: £11.3m)
· Profit for the period of £0.6m (2012: £8.2m)
· Basic earnings per share 0.2p (2012: 2.9p); diluted earnings per share 0.2p (2012: 2.7p)
Operating highlights:
· Trading in first half concluded slightly ahead of expectations at time of 16 October trading update
· Wireless:
- Handset Testing impacted by slow start to year and delays to orders driven by significant industry consolidation
- Fundamental market size and drivers are undiminished
- Network Testing starting to see benefit from LTE roll-outs resulting in strong organic growth
· Travel:
- Encouraging increase in profits as it builds its recurring revenue base
Christopher Humphrey, Chief Executive, said:
"Despite the disappointing start to the year, the Board believes that the underlying drivers for the Wireless division, namely the increased market penetration of smartphones, mobile data growth and the roll-out and complexity of mobile technology, are undiminished. Reflecting our conviction, we continue to invest in these areas developing new products and accessing adjacent markets.
"The Board expects that the Group's second half trading will improve on the first half as it anticipates a material improvement in Handset Testing and continued robust performances from Network Testing and Travel."
