Xaar says 1H ’09 sales down on 1H’08 but improving
Xaar plc, the inkjet printing technology group headquartered in Cambridge, said trading in the six months to end June was in line with the Board's expectations and, whilst behind the first half of last year, continued to improve from the levels seen in the second half of 2008.
Revenue for the six months was around £20.9m, compared with £22.5m in the corresponding period in 2008.
Pre-tax profit was approximately £1.3m (1H 08: £4.0m; 2H 08: loss of £0.2m).
Net cash at 30 June was about £10.3m (31 December 2008: £11.0m; 30 June 2008: £9.9m), after payment of the final dividend for 2008 of £0.9m.
Trading across the firm's sales regions varied during the period. Sales to Asia made a reasonable recovery from their low point in late 2008.
Trading in the Americas improved relative to both the first and second half of last year, but sales into Europe have continued to decline.
Xaar said digital printing machine manufacturers announced a further 10 printing machines in the period incorporating Xaar's Platform 3 technology. These have been mainly in Europe and North America and the Board expects the transition from product launch to volume sales to be slower than originally expected in the current economic environment. These new printing machines cover diverse applications ranging from high speed label printing through to industrial/ceramics printing.
Following the announcement in March of the decision to rationalise the Company's manufacturing capability, the relocation process has started and is on track to be complete within the originally planned timescale.
Whilst the Board said it is encouraged by trading volumes in the period, the continuing lack of visibility and uncertainty in the economic environment means that the Board remains cautious when looking forward.
