Specialised PCB Materials, LED Components and Smart Lighting
Unaudited results for the year ended 30 November 2017
Holders Technology plc (“Holders Technology” or “the Group”) announces its unaudited results for the year ended 30 November 2017. Holders Technology supplies specialty laminates and materials for printed circuit board manufacture (“PCB”), and operates as an LED solutions provider to the lighting and selected industrial markets.
The Group made notable progress during the year, with encouraging revenue growth, improved margins, and a return to profitability.
The Group now comprises two PCB divisions based in the UK and Germany, and two LED divisions also based in the UK and Germany. In the opinion of the directors, all divisions achieved satisfactory growth by the year end.
NRGstar was discontinued during the period, and Opteon Germany was discontinued at the end of 2016. Both operations’ results are shown separately as discontinued operations.
The directors will recommend payment of a final dividend of 0.25p per share.
Chairman’s statement
In my last Annual Statement, I reported that a number of changes were being made to the Group’s management and sales teams and that along with this, further investments in PCB machinery were being made. The aim of these measures was to enable the Group to return to profitability and I am very pleased to be able to report that the Group did achieve an operating profit for the year of £65,000 from continuing operations (2016: operating loss of £261,000).
The Group now comprises PCB and LED divisions, based in both the UK and Germany. Two unprofitable activities NRGStar, based in the UK, and Opteon, based in Germany, were closed with their combined results recording a loss of £42,000 (2016: loss £113,000).
The overall Group result for the year showed continuing revenues of £12.2m (2016: £10.7m), with gross margins of 26.3% (2016: 24.9%) and a profit after tax of £17,000 (2016: loss £395,000). Approximately £0.7m of the Group revenue growth related to the Euro strengthening against sterling.
The PCB divisions together had revenue of £9.5m (2016: £8.3m) and achieved an operating profit of £214,000 (2016: loss £1,000) with margins improving from 22.2% to 24.2%. Approximately £0.6m of the PCB revenue growth related to the Euro strengthening against sterling.
Our German PCB operations, the largest single element of the Group, had a successful year with satisfactory growth from both existing and new product lines. Investments were made in machinery and improved systems during the year and we plan further investment in 2018.
UK PCB operations achieved encouraging revenue growth from a number of new product lines. The directors expect modest revenue improvement in 2018.
LED revenues overall amounted to £2.8m (2016: £2.4m) with gross margins decreased slightly to 33.4% (2016: 34.2%) and operating losses being reduced from £229,000 in 2016 to £92,000 in 2017. Approximately £0.1m of the LED revenue growth related to the Euro strengthening against sterling.
The LED divisions both had stronger second halves in 2017 with the UK division, in particular, substantially improving its performance. The product range continues to develop with smart lighting controls a key focus for the future. Both divisions were profitable in the second half of the year.
On behalf of the Board I would like to record our thanks to all of our staff for their hard work during 2017 which resulted in a profitable year for the Group. With 2017 seeing a return to profitability the board and management team remain fully committed to achieving further improvement in both sales and profitability in 2018 and beyond. The Board considers it appropriate to recommend a final dividend of 0.25p in respect of the 2017 year.
R W Weinreich
Executive Chairman
