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Gooch & Housego sees profits halve

Published: 08:46 02 Jun 2020 BST

Gooch & Housego -

Gooch & Housego PLC (LON:GHH) saw half-year adjusted profits decline as a result of reduced revenues and changes to the product mix.

The specialist manufacturer of optical components and systems has, however, left its full-year guidance unchanged.

Revenue in the six months to the end of March eased 3.8% to £57.5mln from £59.7mln in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Reported profit before tax rose 15.6% to £1.7mln from £1.5mln the year before but adjusted profit, which strips out one-off items, halved to £2.7mln from £5.4mln.

The company has opted not to recommend payment of an interim dividend.

"In general Japan, South Korea and parts of China saw improved demand, but there was some order book push out in the USA and Europe. Western companies are now starting to reopen sites that were closed,” revealed Mark Webster, the chief executive officer of Gooch & Housego.

"Measured cost reductions were put in place in the latter part of H1 [first half of the fiscal year], enabling us to retain critical capabilities on a return to more ‘normal’ trading conditions. Good progress has been made on the streamlining of our manufacturing base. Both of these initiatives will deliver significant future margin progression,” Webster said.

Shares in Gooch & Housego were unchanged in early deals.

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