26th Sep 2023 10:33
(Alliance News) - Videndum PLC on Tuesday reported a significantly lower interim profit, blaming the writers' strike in the US, as it announced that Chair Ian McHoul will not seek re-election at the company's annual general meeting in 2024.
Videndum shares fell 33% to 370.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
The hardware product and software solutions provider reported a sharp drop in profit in the first half of 2023 amid a number of ongoing macroeconomic headwinds.
For the six months ended June 30, Videndum announced a pretax profit of GBP3.1 million, down sharply from GBP22.9 million the year prior.
Revenue in the half fell to GBP165.0 million from GBP219.4 million.
The company blamed the drop in profit on ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, the effects of destocking, and the writers' strike in the US.
It added that given the ongoing strikes in the US, there will be no interim dividend, compared to 15.0 pence per share paid for the first half of 2022. The company plans to resume dividend payments "when appropriate."
Looking forward, it said there is a "wide range" of potential outcomes for the full year due to the strikes and thus is unable to provide financial guidance.
Chief Executive Stephen Bird said: "Videndum remains well positioned in a content creation market which has attractive structural growth drivers and strong medium-term prospects; however, the current macroeconomic environment remains challenging, and although there is encouraging news about the strikes, it is not clear when productions will restart."
Separately, Videndum announced that Chair Ian McHoul will not stand for re-election at the company's 2024 annual general meeting. The search for his replacement begins.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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