Chemring swings to first-half loss

23rd Jun 2015 09:55

Chemring said on Tuesday that it has swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half amid falling revenue, although a recent increase in orders should help the company meet full-year targets.For the six months ended 30 April, the defense technology company posted a pre-tax loss of £15.1m, compared with a profit of £5.1m last year, on revenue of £161.7m, down from £208.8m.Chief executive Michael Flowers said: "Prolonged negotiations and delays in the receipt of significant Middle East orders mean that we expect a heavy weighting of this year's performance towards the second half. The receipt of orders exceeding £50m since the period end, coupled with further significant orders expected to be won and the resolution of certain operational issues, is expected to result in a strong second half performance."Chemring declared an unchanged interim dividend of 2.4p per share and said it will maintain its policy of declaring a dividend covered three times by underlying earnings per share for the current financial year.At 10:05, Chemring shares were up 0.7% at 207p.