The Christmas season brought little joy to Aim minnow Pure Wafer (PUR). At around 9am on Sunday 21 December an electrical fire broke out at the company's wafer reclaim facility in Swansea, stopping all production. Damage to the site - which accounted for around 56 per cent of total group revenue for the year to 30 June - forced the company to book a $15.7m (£10.4m) exceptional cost in these half-year results, pushing the income statement into the red.
Pure Wafer - which refurbishes the test wafers used in the manufacture of semiconductors - has one other factory, in Arizona. The facility is undertaking a "qualification process" with a number of affected customers that should enable the transfer of some production to the US, starting in May. A return to full-scale production may take up to 12 months.
In the meantime, the company is in negotiations with its insurers, who have accepted full financial liability for the fire. Pure Wafer is comprehensively insured for up to three years' business interruption, and expects to recognise the reimbursement of the claim this financial year. But management could not estimate how much compensation it might be owed, nor had it received full quotes for any replacements needed.
Broker WH Ireland withdrew its full-year EPS forecast of 12.3ȼ in response to the financial uncertainty.
| PURE WAFER (PUR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 40p | MARKET VALUE: | £11.2m | |
| TOUCH: | 37-42p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 96p | LOW: 36p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.1% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 78.4ȼ* | NET CASH: | $1.7m | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 18.2 | 2.1 | 7.60 | nil |
| 2014 | 16.3 | -14.8 | -53.10 | nil |
| % change | -10 | - | - | - |
Ex-div:na Payment:na £1=$1.51 *Includes intangible assets of $6.8m, or 24ȼ a share | ||||
