19th Mar 2015 08:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Premier Farnell PLC Thursday reported lower profit for its recently-ended financial year, hit by restructuring costs and investments in its product offering, while revenue was hit by the strength of sterling.
The electronics components distributor reported a pretax profit of GBP69.1 million for the year to February 1, down from GBP74.8 million a year earlier, as revenue declined to GBP960.1 million from GBP968.0 million and its operating margin declined 40 basis points to 9.2%.
It booked GBP5.1 million of restructuring costs, and expects total costs for the reorganisation to be GBP10 million, with the difference to be booked in the current financial year. It expects the programme to deliver between GBP10 million and GBP12 million of annualised cost savings.
?The past financial year has been a challenging period for Premier Farnell as we position ourselves for future profitable growth. The investments we have made to date will enable us to execute our strategic growth initiatives. By improving our growth trajectory, reducing costs and completing the transformation of element14, we believe that Premier Farnell is well positioned to deliver improved financial performance. We have made a satisfactory start to the year and our expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged,? Chief Executive Laurence Bain said.
It kept its final dividend at 6.0 pence a share, meaning the full year dividend was also flat on the year at 10.4p.
Revenue would have grown 3.3% if exchange rates had remained constant over the year, although its operating profit would still have declined 4.0%. The growth was driven by Asia Pacific, with its UK operations reporting declined sales in challenging markets.
Premier Farnell shares were up 1.8% at 194.50 pence early Thursday.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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