30th Apr 2019 11:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Audio equipment manufacturer Focusrite PLC on Tuesday reported a rise in first half profit and revenue, leading to the company hiking its interim dividend.
In the six months to February 28, Focusrite's pretax profit increased 24% to GBP7.2 million from GBP5.8 million the year before.
The company's revenue increased 4.1% in the period to GBP40.4 million from GBP38.8 million in the corresponding period the year before.
The rise was attributed to its Scarlett and Clarett USB audio interface products seeing a rise. The products are manufactured by the company's core Focusrite business - which reported a 12% increase in revenue to GBP26.3 million.
"Among existing products, our second generation Scarlett USB audio interface range has continued to gain market share since its launch in June 2016. The Clarett range has also seen growth in market share, as our USB range, introduced in 2018, continues to win over customers in the mid-range price categories," added the company.
The company declared an interim dividend of 1.2 pence, 20% higher than the 1.0p distributed in the first half last year.
Focusrite ended the period with net cash of GBP26.2 million, 15% higher than the GBP22.8 million reported the year before.
"Overall this was another pleasing performance with revenue exceeding that of the record revenue last year, and profit and cash rising more substantially. This has been reflected in the increased dividend. The group needs to remain mindful of macroeconomic and political factors that affect its business, most notably import tarffs in the US, Brexit uncertainty and foreign exchange rates, but has strategies in place to deal with these," said Chief Executive Tim Carroll.
The company's administrative expenses were broadly flat year-on-year at GBP10.7 million.
Focusrite said it is looking to the future with "continued confidence".
Shares in Focusrite were down 3.7% Tuesday at 497.86 pence each.
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