4th Sep 2019 10:58
(Alliance News) - Shares in concrete-levelling equipment maker Somero Enterprises PLC tipped lower Wednesday after a steep fall in interim profit and revenue, despite forecasting an improved performance in the second half of the year.
Shares in Somero were 21% lower at 221.30 pence in London on Wednesday.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit narrowed 23% to USD10.5 million from USD13.6 million the year prior. This was after revenue fell 13% to USD39.0 million from USD45.0 million the year before.
"As announced in June, our first six months of 2019 fell short of our full year expectations at the beginning of the year, primarily due to extraordinarily heavy rainfall during the first half of 2019 in the US that depressed sales in our largest market," Somero Chief Executive Officer Jack Cooney said. "The US non-residential construction market remains very healthy, and we are pleased to note that as the weather improves, we expect to see improvement in the second half.
"Whilst towards the end of the period, trading in Europe and the Middle East fell below the prior year in part due to the timing of certain contracts, we remain confident to deliver improved second half of 2019 results, broadly in line with guidance for the full year, notwithstanding the wider macro pressures in Europe, particularly Germany, the Middle East and Australia," Cooney added.
Somero proposed a 5.75 US cent interim dividend, up 4.5% from 5.50 cents the year prior.
"Despite our disappointment with the first half of 2019 trading, we do not see a fundamental change in our end-markets and maintain a positive outlook for the remainder of 2019 particularly as our customers in the US return to more typical levels of productivity," Cooney continued.
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