16th Mar 2015 07:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Petards Group PLC Monday said it swung to a profit in 2014, as revenue more than doubled on the back of orders for its security systems for trains and the defence sector.
The company reported a pretax profit of GBP620,000 for 2014, compared with the GBP2.4 million loss it reported in 2013, as revenue jumped to GBP13.5 million from GBP6.3 million.
Its gross margin slipped to 30.4%, from 40.4% in 2013, as it shipped more low-margin products in the first half, although the margin improved to 33.8% in the second half of the year as it switched to a higher proportion of its train security products.
Revenue from its eyeTrain and Defence products both more than doubled as it got big orders from the UK Ministry of Defence and train builders Siemens, Bombardier and Hyundai Rotem.
Petards said it has maintained its order book at GBP20 million, and over half of that is scheduled to be delivered in 2015.
"I am pleased to say for the year to date the group has traded in line with expectations and that it remains well placed to add to the achievements of 2014. The visibility provided by the group's current forward order book and its pipeline of order prospects provides the board with confidence that further progress will be made in 2015," Chaiman Raschid Abdullah said in the earnings statement.
Petards isn't currently paying a dividend and said it wants to see further evidence of its recovery before paying one. It also currently has a "considerable deficiency on its distributable reserves" which presently prevents the payment of dividends.
"In anticipation that the group's recovery will prove sustainable during 2015 and beyond, it is the intention of the board to review how best to address this matter," it said.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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