News blog
Gooch & Housego
- BY: Andrew Hore |
- POSTED: 09/06/2009 |
Gooch & Housego broke even in the six months to March 2009.
The optical components and systems manufacturer was hit by a slump in demand for Q-switches from its industrial customer base. This was due to delays in the take off of orders and G&H believes that the business has not been lost.
Revenues increased from £15.7m to £18.8m in the six months to March 2009, helped by the $21.6m acquisition of General Optics in October 2008. That acquisition gives G&H exposure to the defence market in the US. Stripping out the acquisition and foreign exchange effects there was an 18% decline in revenues.
Profits dipped from £2.24m to £39,000, although that was after restructuring costs of £755,000. Annualised savings of £3.4m have been made and they will show through in the second half.
The order book is worth £20.4m and has improved over the past six months. However, trading conditions remain subdued. G&H is bidding on high value contracts will show through from 2010 onwards.
Net debt increased significantly to £17.4m at the end of March 2009 but that was mainly down to the General Optics acquisition. The business is still cash generative and capital expenditure is going to be lower than depreciation over the next couple of years. The large investment in the new factory in Ilminster was completed last year.
House broker Investec intends to edge down its full year profit forecast of £2.9m.
The shares are trading on less than 10 times prospective 2008-09 earnings.
© 2024 Aim Micro. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
- Browse by issue
- All issues
- Popular tags
- All tags
- AIM Micro feeds
Keep up to date with articles published at AIMMicro.com. Subscribe to AIM Micro RSS Feeds
|