12th May 2020 14:48
(Alliance News) - Braime Group PLC on Tuesday reported a 43% decline in 2019 profit and forecast a fall in demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
For 2019, the metal pressing firm posted pretax profit of GBP1.7 million on revenue of GBP33 million. For comparison, in 2018, pretax profit totalled GBP3.0 million and revenue amounted to GBP35.7 million.
Braime attributed its "slightly disappointing" results to weaker global demand due to a fall in investment following the droughts in South America and Australia in late 2018, the softening in the US agricultural market caused by the US-China trade war, and the general economic slowdown in the European market in 2019.
A final dividend of 8 pence was declared, unchanged from the year prior. The final dividend amount takes the total annual payout to 11.6p from 11.5p paid in 2018.
Looking ahead, the Leeds-based company said that while forward orders have fallen slightly, it expects the backlog of projects arising from the temporary closure of its sites to result in a "bounce" once manufacturing and construction sites re-open.
"We must prepare ourselves for the likelihood of lower demand while the world economy struggles to recover and concentrate ourselves on reducing cost and increasing efficiency. Above all we need to refocus on our long-term strategy of introducing new products and new customers to compensate for the decline in existing products if we are to maintain the recent growth of the Braime Group," said Chair Nicholas Braime
Braime said it currently has GBP2.3 million of available headroom.
The stock was untraded on Tuesday afternoon in London, last quoted at 1,150.00p each.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
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