Stadium Group posts fall in sales after 'transformational' year

11th Mar 2014 09:28

Electronic technologies group Stadium posted a fall in its annual reported pre-tax profit after a 'transformational' year of 'significant organisational change'. On a like-for-like basis, sales fell 4.4%, hit by a decline in the iEMS business, which was down 3.5%. The business, which underwent the most changes, saw a pick-up in Asia, with more China-to-China contract wins coming through. However, it said it remained "cautious" in its outlook. Power Products experienced a tough period of trading, with a disappointing start to the year, as a number of projects shifted into the second half of the year or were cancelled, and overall sales declined by 21.8% - although the second half of the year was much stronger. A better performance was seen with the Interface and Displays business, which grew around 40% on a like-for-like business.Chairman Nick Brayshaw said: "The business has undergone significant organisational change both in its UK and Asian operations and the leadership team has been strengthened with the recruitment of a number of experienced senior managers. The group is now in a much stronger position with a business model and structure to support focused growth and drive further operational improvements."Profit before tax fell from £1.77m to £0.43m year-on-year, hit by an increase in charges for non-recurring items. Normalised profit before tax rose 28.8% to £1.86m, boosted by a good performance by the technology-led businesses. Basic earnings per share was 0.5p (2012: 4.2p) and adjusted earnings per share was 5.3p (2012: 3.1p).Looking ahead, Brayshaw added: "We have made a solid start to the new financial year, demonstrating the benefits from our self-help and restructuring activities. "[...] we continue to anticipate an improving trading performance as we progress through 2014."The share price fell 4.5% to 69p by 10:00 Tuesday. NR