4th Feb 2020 11:24
(Alliance News) - Petards Group PLC on Tuesday said it expects to swing to a loss in 2019 due to project delays.
The stock was trading 24% lower in London in late morning trade at 9.51 pence a share.
The AIM-listed security and surveillance systems company said it now expects to report a pretax loss for 2019 after a customer, late in the year, re-scheduled eyeTrain system deliveries into 2020. In addition, Petards said the profitability on on two rail projects was "much" lower than forecast.
In 2018, Petards generated a pretax profit of GBP1.1 million.
The company expects to report revenue for 2019 of GBP15.8 million, down 21% from GBP20.0 million a year earlier, and down 8.7% compared to market expectations of GBP17.3 million.
Petards' order book at the end of December remained in the region of GBP15 million, it said, versus GBP19 million at the end of 2018.
"While it is disappointing to report on the lower than expected 2019 revenues due to customer re-scheduling and on the impact this and the higher project costs have had on profitability, the group remains in good shape," said Chair Raschid Abdullah.
He added: "Following the group's significant investment in recent years, and with little further investment in product development anticipated to be required in 2020, the group expects to be net cash generative in the coming year and the Board remains confident of the group's future prospects."
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Petards