26th Sep 2014 09:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - Industrial and commercial equipment company H C Slingsby PLC Friday said its first-half loss widened due to a fall in revenue and costs associated with its recent business restructuring.
The company posted a pretax loss of GBP381,000 for the six months to June 30, compared with a GBP32,000 loss in the first-half of 2013, after revenue dropped and it booked GBP193,000 in restructuring costs.
First-half revenue fell by 8.5% to GBP6.4 million, down from GBP6.9 million last year, dragged down by an 11% fall in revenue in the first quarter.
HC Slingsby has struggled over the last 18 months, having posted wider losses and falling revenue in 2013 too, as it said it continued to face margin pressure from aggressive pricing by competitors.
The company then embarked on some radical restructuring to reduce its overheads, laying off 20% of its workforce, and closed its manufacturing unit with all in-house designed products now sub-contracted out for manufacture to trade-only suppliers in the UK.
"However, the radical restructuring of the business has been completed as planned with a subsequent significant reduction in overheads, the benefits of which have only become fully effective from the half year," the company said in a statement.
The firm said that reduced overheads resulted in a small pretax profit for the month of July, but August was "particularly quiet." It said trading in September has returned to the level of management's expectations.
"Our cash position remains strong and the Board is confident the company is now well placed to compete in an increasingly contested and dynamic market," said Non-Executive Chairman John Waterhouse in a statement.
The company left its interim dividend unchanged at 2 pence per share.
The company's stock was untraded Friday morning at 376.00 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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