(Alliance News) - SDI Group PLC on Thursday reporting a narrowing of its interim profit, but said it has seen signs of improvements in the market.
The Cambridge, England-based company designs and manufactures scientific and technology products for digital imaging and sensing control applications.
The AIM-listed firm said in the six months ended October 31, pretax profit narrowed by 36% to GBP1.7 million from a restated GBP2.7 million the year prior.
Driving this change was revenue, which fell by 4% on-year to GBP30.9 million from GBP32.1 million, reflecting reduced activity in the life sciences and biomedical markets.
The firm said its order intake has improved significantly for the second half of the year on a like-for-like basis, adding that full-year profits are expected to be in line with market expectations, with its improved order book supporting an increased on-year second half weighting.
The firm referred to full-year market expectations of GBP70.45 million for revenue, GBP10 million for adjusted operating profit and GBP8.4 million for adjusted profit before tax. These compare with last financial year's figures of GBP65.8 million, GBP9.6 million and GBP8.0 million respectively.
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Brown said: "Whilst conditions in the life sciences and biomedical markets were challenging in early H1, we have seen improvements from September onwards. Our diverse portfolio has delivered stronger performances in some other sectors.
"The technological prowess and capabilities of the businesses within our portfolio cannot be understated, and there remains a huge market opportunity to further expand our community of entrepreneurial businesses."
SDI Group shares were up 0.4% at 59.25 pence on Thursday afternoon in London.
By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter
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