10th Sep 2018 11:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Luceco PLC on Monday said it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of 2018 as its revenue was held back by a sharp downturn in orders from UK consumer-facing retail customers and the impact of a weaker dollar.
The LED lighting products manufacturer said it sunk to a pretax loss of GBP4.1 million in the six months to the end of June compared to GBP8.1 million profit reported in the first half of 2017.
The result was hurt by higher administrative expenses, which rose to GBP13.0 million from GBP7.3 million and distribution costs were also higher year-on-year at GBP9.6 million compared to GBP7.7 million.
Meanwhile, revenue dropped slightly to GBP75.1 million from GBP75.3 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue climbed by 3.3%.
"The decline in revenue from UK consumer-facing retail and the adverse impact on gross margins of commodity inflation and exchange rates has generated a disappointing financial performance in the first half-year," said Chief Executive John Hornby.
LED sales increased by GBP6.8 million to GBP24.2 million, driven by the strong growth in UK project sales, the company said.
International revenue in the first half of 2018 was GBP15.9 million, up by the third compared to the year prior. This growth was supported by expansion of the overseas sales team, Luceco said, which at the end of the period had increased by 17 heads to 93.
"Whilst the first six months have been challenging, the group is entering the second half with an outlook unchanged from the July," said Hornby.
At the time, Luceco expected to deliver year-on-year adjusted operating profit growth in the second half of 2018.
Shares in Luceco were down 2.4% on Monday at 48.40 pence each.
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