30th Aug 2018 09:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in industrial printing firm Xaar PLC plummeted a third on Thursday after it said it expected half-year revenue to fall and for underlying trading to be weaker than expected into the future.
Shares in Xaar were 33% lower at 164.50 pence on Thursday.
Xaar said it expects revenue to be GBP35 million in the six months to the end of June, down 20% from the GBP44 million reported the year prior. Xaar added its anticipates GBP9.8 million of this to be from one-off royalties. The year before one-off royalties contributed just GBP3.5 million of the total.
Excluding one-off royalty revenue, the top line is expected to drop 38% to GBP25.2 million from GBP40.5 million the year prior.
Looking forward, underlying trading since the end of June has been, and will continue to be, below the levels expected in Xaar's late-June trading update, it said.
At that time, Xaar explained trading at its ceramics business was expected to fail to hit its full-year expectations. It also expected the second-half weighting of revenue to be more pronounced than usual.
"Although the reception of new products has been positive, adoption of the 1201 printhead, in particular, has to date been significantly slower than expected, and the rate of decline in ceramics continues to be aggressive," Xaar explained in a statement on Thursday.
The firm is undertaking a strategic review related to potential partnering of its printhead business unit. It is also continuing to look at cost-saving initiatives.
Xaar will report interim results next Wednesday.
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