30th Jul 2019 11:08
(Alliance News) - LED lighting manufacturer Luceco PLC said on Tuesday it anticipates strong revenue growth in its first half of the year, with trading remaining in line with expectations.
Luceco expects revenue to climb 10% year-on-year in the first six months to June 30 and the company said revenue in the UK retail business improved particularly well against a "weak comparative".
In the first six months of 2018, Luceco posted a revenue of GBP75.1 million.
The company expects to meet full year forecasts of an underlying operating profit between GBP17.0 million and GBP17.2 million.
Product cost improvements have also helped continue on the gross margin improvement it achieved in the second half of last year, Luceco said. The company's gross margin rose to 34% in the second half of 2018.
Luceco expects an operating margin of 9% against breakeven in the six months to the end of June 2018.
Chief Executive John Hornby said: "The group has produced a solid performance in the first half underlining the benefit of the actions taken by the group. Despite a more challenging second half comparative and continued weakness in UK professional demand due to the uncertain economic and political environment, we are confident of achieving ongoing growth in both revenue and operating profit in line with market expectations."
Shares in the company fell 13% at 103.34 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
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