14th May 2019 10:35
LONDON (Alliance News) - Portmeirion Group PLC on Tuesday lost a quarter of its market value after warning on profit due to lower export sales.
Shares were down 25% at 911.60 pence each in morning trade in London.
The pottery company recorded a 10% drop in group sales for the four months to the end of April and said annual pretax profit "will be significantly below market expectations". In 2018, the company recorded pretax profit of GBP9.7 million and revenue of GBP89.6 million.
"We do not anticipate this leading to a change in our expectations for dividend payments in the current year. We believe our long-term strategy is the right one and are pleased with the progress we are making in other areas to protect and grow our brand portfolio," the company added.
The drop in sales was mainly attributed to lower-than-expected sales to the Korean market. Sales growth in the company's two largest markets, the UK and US were up 5% and 8%, respectively, against the prior period last year.
Portmeirion said it has been working with its Korean distributor on new product development during 2019, however, the new products are expected to take time to launch.
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