Home safety products group Sprue Aegis PLC (LON:SPRP) has reported a drop in 2016 profits and revenues, impacted by volume declines in France and product certification delays in Germany in the first-half, but its second-half saw an improvement.
The smoke alarms firm saw its adjusted pretax profits drop to £2.3mln for the year ended 31 December 2016, down from £12.8mln in 2015, as group revenue fell to £57.1mln from £88.3mln a year earlier.
However, at constant currency, total revenues were up 5% to £60.0mln and total sales in the second-half rose to £31.2mln, up from £25.9mln in the first-half.
Second-half sales into Germany increased by 165% compared to the second-half of 2015.
Although 2016 saw a lower proportion of sales into Continental Europe, there was a higher proportion of UK retail sales, which increased by 11% to £15.4mln.
Graham Whitworth, Sprue’s executive chairman, said: "Our strong performance in the second half of last year gives a clear indication of the positive momentum we are now experiencing across the business.”
He added; “We have made a solid start to 2017, which serves as a sound foundation to announce a number of transformational initiatives, which we believe will provide a springboard to expand our technological and operational footprint into new markets and territories and greatly enhance the Group's earnings potential."
The group maintained its final dividend at 5.5p per share, giving an unchanged total payout of 8.0p per share.