8th Apr 2014 10:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Models and collectibles company Hornby PLC Tuesday confirmed it expects to deliver a performance for the recently completed year around "breakeven" at the underlying pretax level but warned that it has suffered a further GBP200,000 foreign exchange loss since January which will lead to a an expected GBP1.2 million loss overall.
In an interim management statement in January, Hornby had said it was facing a GBP1 million pretax loss due a GBP1 million loss, caused by the increase in value of sterling.
The maker of model railway sets, Scalextric model car racing sets, and Airfix modelling sets is trying to sort out supply-chain issues that have hit its profits and revenues. Its long-standing major supplier closed the factory which made Hornby model railways, forcing the British company to look for new suppliers. Earlier this year, Hornby said it had come to an agreement to cease trading with that supplier, meaning that its tools and mould will be available to its other manufacturing partners.
Hornby Tuesday said it is currently trying to negotiate new banking facilities with its main bankers based on the operating plans for the next financial year. It expects this negotiations to be concluded before it publishes its results for the year to March 31 in June.
The firm said net debt at the end of March is now expected to be around GBP7.3 million compared with GBP2.1 million at the same time in 2013 and GBP6.5 million at the end of December.
Looking ahead, the firm said its plans for the new financial year are well advanced and "with the main obstacle to an improved and efficient supply chain out of the way, we expect a gradual improvement in its reliability and quality".
Hornby said it looks forward to improved trading next year.
As announced previously, former Ladbrokes and Dixons director Richard Ames will join as chief executive later this month.
The stock was trading at 78.06 pence Tuesday, down 2.7%.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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