31st May 2018 16:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Interior furnishings company Havelock Europa PLC on Thursday swung to a loss for 2017 on lower revenue and termed the year as "one of the worst performances in Havelock's history".
Pretax loss for the year totaled GBP5.9 million, compared with pretax profit of GBP22,000 the year before, on revenue that dropped to GBP53.2 million from GBP60.8 million, as a result of lower opening order book brought forward from 2016, lower Government spending on schools, serious issues with the new Enterprise Planning System and weak demand in the public sector.
The weak performance has led to the implementation of a revised and more simplified strategy, involving the restructuring and slimming of the organisation and narrowing Havelock's commercial focus, the company said.
For the first four months of 2018, earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortisation is ahead of the year before, and is tracking closely to expectations, Havelock added.
"The recovery, which I sought to trigger, has got off to a slow start. 2017 was one of the worst performances in Havelock's history, being impacted by a lower opening order book brought forward from 2016, changes to the sales mix, lower government spending on schools, weaker fixed cost coverage and serious issues with the new ERP system," said Chairman Ian Godden.
"With a reduced cost base as part of the restructuring of the business, fresh financing, the removal of planning based on over-optimism and a new executive team in place, the group is much better placed to improve its performance as this work flows through," Godden added.
Shares in Havelock Europa were down 3.2% at 3.00 pence on Thursday.