17th Apr 2015 06:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Havelock Europa PLC Friday said it swung to a pretax loss in 2014, which it blamed on reduced activity in education and financial services - two of its strongest sectors.
The interiors solutions group reported a pretax loss for the year ended December 31 of GBP5.8 million, compared with a pretax profit of GBP632,000 in 2013. Revenue fell to GBP83.4 million from GBP89.6 million.
Havelock said lower-than-expected activity in the education sector, coupled with a downturn in financial services, created a challenging period for the business, but said this was offset slightly by stronger retail and international sales.
The company operates across five main sectors: retail, financial services, education/accommodation, healthcare and international. It said that retail, financial services and education are currently the strongest and most mature sectors, each capable of delivering around 30% of total revenue.
Havelock said it plans to expand the healthcare and international sectors in order to create a balance between sectors in the long term, adding that education is expected to rebound strongly over the next two years.
The company has not proposed a dividend for this year, saying it will consider resuming payments when the group's profitability has improved.
"Consistent with previous years, the company has a high dependence on second half orders which makes visibility on the outlook for the full year difficult. However, we will benefit from an opening order book of GBP25 million at the start of the year; GBP20 million of which is for delivery in 2015 which compares with GBP14 million at the same time last year," Chief Executive David MacLellan said in a statement.
"In addition, the board believes that the improved sector balance and broader customer base mean that the group is in a stronger position to maximise the opportunities that lie ahead," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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