11th Nov 2014 11:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Engineering company Hayward Tyler Group PLC Tuesday said higher revenue in the first half resulted in a slight increase in its interim pretax profit, but said that profit gains in the period were held back by higher cost of sales and that it booked a loss on the fair value of derivatives.
The company reported a pretax profit of GBP1.84 million for the six months to September 30, compared with a GBP1.82 million pretax profit a year earlier.
While revenue in the period rose to GBP24.0 million, up from GBP20.3 million the prior year, buoyed by new contract wins and an increase in order intake, cost of sales rose faster than revenue, meaning its gross profit margin decreased to 32%, down from 37% the year before.
Also weighing on the company's pretax profit was a GBP168,000 loss on the fair value of derivatives.
Its net profit increased by more, helped by a lower tax charge than the previous year. Net profit for the year was GBP1.5 million, up from GBP909,000 the year before.
The company raised its interim dividend to 0.525 pence, 5% higher than the 0.5 pence its declared the prior year. It said its positive outlook is underpinned by a combination of market opportunity and underlying operational improvement.
"We look forward to continuing to grow our market presence and maintaining our progressive dividend policy," said Chief Executive Officer Ewan Lloyd-Baker in a statement.
Hayward Tyler shares were trading 3.2% lower before midday Tuesday at 79.40 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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