16th Oct 2013 07:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Anite PLC Wednesday said it has lowered its expectations for the full year after deciding that its first-half profit shortfall compared to last year will not be fully recovered in the second half.
Anite, which provides software to the international wireless and leisure-travel industries, said that the anticipated pick-up in trading after a quiet first quarter has not been as marked as had been expected at the time of the first-quarter interim management statement.
"We believe that the second half for Handset Testing will be materially improved on the first half. We expect to exit the year on a strong underlying run rate which will allow us to continue to progress in the longer term," Chief Executive Christopher Humphrey said in a statement.
Anite said a number of tier-one handset and chip-set manufacturers have been involved in consolidation or reorganisation, and the uncertainty has resulted in contracts taking longer to conclude.
The company said it now expects Handset Testing revenue in the first half to be around 25% down on the GBP40.5 million reported for the corresponding period last year.
Although order intake is expected to be around 10% down, an increase in maintenance renewal orders has led to an enhanced order book, Anite said.
The shortfall in the gross margin associated with the revenue decline, in addition to the increase in fixed costs following the Propsim acquisition in January, means that it is likely that the Handset Testing business will be around break-even for the first half of the year, Anite said.
The company said it expects second half Handset Testing revenues to be broadly in line with the GBP46.5m achieved in the second half of last year.
"Trading in the Network Testing and Travel businesses continues to be at least in line with expectations with good year on year growth," the company added.
It said it would release its results for the half year ended October 31 in early December.
Anite shares were down 33% in early trading Wednesday at 74.90 pence.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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