"A recent drop in customer confidence means full-year prospects are now looking less certain," said Geraint Anderson, chief executive officer of TT Electronics. The deterioration in market conditions clearly spooked investors in the electronic components group as did a raft of broker downgrades that followed. Peel Hunt slashed its full-year pre-tax profits by 16 per cent from £37m to £31m, following the warning, which triggered a 17 per cent drop in the company's share price. This still represents moderate growth on last year's profits of £29.5m.
"There was a sudden change in confidence in the markets in mid-May," said Mr Anderson, explaining how a number of ongoing "self-help" efforts should help steer the company through. This includes a number of cost-savings efforts, and management is sticking to its underlying strategy of investing in products and pushing into new geographical regions such as China and Mexico.
TT ELECTRONICS (TT.) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 141p | MARKET VALUE: | £221m | |
| TOUCH: | 140-141.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 205p | LOW: 120p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.3% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 117p* | NET DEBT: | 4% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 282 | 20.8 | 10.6 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 271 | 12.5 | 5.7 | 1.5 |
| % change | -4 | -40 | -46 | +25 |
Ex-div: 17 Oct Payment: 1 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £77.3m, or 49p a share | ||||
