29th Jun 2020 12:52
(Alliance News) - Autins Group PLC on Monday posted a narrowed loss for its first half despite fall in revenue as it said it does not expect demand to return to pre-Covid levels in financial 2020.
Shares in the acoustic & thermal insulation solutions supplier were trading 5.9% higher at 15.88 pence each on Monday afternoon in London, but 23% lower than at the start of the year.
For the six months ended March 31, Autins posted revenue of GBP13.2 million, down 3.2% from GBP13.7 million posted the year prior with the reduction driven by continued reduction in UK and European car sales. Component revenue was 14% lower year-on-year at GBP12.1 million.
However, pretax loss narrowed to GBP567,000 from GBP976,000. Total distribution and administrative expenses were GBP4.2 million, down from GBP4.6 million.
No dividend was declared in line with the company's current suspension of dividend payouts amid economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. No dividend was paid for the first half of 2019 either due to "general market uncertainty" as the company cited "challenging" trading conditions on the ongoing political and economic uncertainty in the UK and China as the reason for its sink to loss at the time.
Looking ahead, Autins said demand for automotive products has fallen during the first few months of its second half, as it added it does not expect demand to return to pre-Covid levels in the current financial year ending September 30.
"Since the period end, the impact of Covid-19 has been significant and our manufacturing facilities have been largely shut down due to plant shutdowns across the European automotive sector. Recovery in UK and Sweden has slowly commenced in the last few weeks, although demand is weak, whilst the German automotive market recovery is looking stronger, the company said.
"Autins' UK and Sweden manufacturing output is currently operating at 30% and Germany at approximately 60% of pre-Covid-19 volumes. The board expects continued volume recovery in the coming months but does not anticipate that pre Covid-19 volumes will return during the current financial year. This will result in a significant reduction in revenues and a negative impact on the group's financial performance in financial 2020," it added.
Separately, the Rugby-based company said it now expects personal protective equipment to be part of its product range after it said netted GBP400,000 in the last two months from PPE sales.
As at the end of March, Autins had cash of GBP2.0 million.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected].
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