28th Sep 2015 10:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Furniture and interior services company Havelock Europa saw its pretax loss widen slightly in the first half as subdued activity in retail and financial services markets which held back its revenue.
Havelock said its pretax loss in the first half to the end of June was GBP2.4 million, compared to a GBP2.3 million loss a year earlier, as revenue fell to GBP28.9 million from GBP30.5 million, primarily due to weakness in retail and financial services sector activity. The group said it expects these two markets to remain tough in the second half.
Still, the group said its international sales were on track in the first half and said its head office move was carried out on time and on budget. It is in the midst of a restructuring process in order to cut costs and said this will be done by the end of the year, while it remains on track to hit its target of GBP3 million in annual savings for 2016.
The cost-cutting plans were revealed at the beginning of this month when Havelock issued a profit warning, saying it will cut down the size of its workforce and sell its Teacherboards education supplies business. Havelock said it had undertaken a business structure review and concluded that it would need to "right-size" the business to a level and cost structure that will enable it to "deliver a sustainable, consistent level of profit on a more modest sales target".
"Whilst the short-term trading outlook is challenging, I am confident that the business reorganisation plan announced on September 1, 2015 will enable the business to deliver sustainable profits in the future," said David Ritchie, Havelock's chief executive.
Shares in Havelock were untraded on Monday, having last traded at 12.00 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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