Spirent Communications PLC (LON:SPT) has reported a strong profit rise in its first half despite what it said was “some softness in order intake” in its second quarter.
For the six months ended June 30, the telecoms group reported a pre-tax profit of US$36mln, up 93% year-on-year, while revenues rose 7% to US$233.7mln and order intake climbed 6% to US$232.1mln.
The revenues rise was attributed to a “strong uptick” in the group’s 400G Ethernet test solutions and continued 5G acceleration as well as strong order and revenue growth from its Lifecycle Service Assurance business. Spirent also hiked its interim dividend by 12% to US$0.0217 per share.
Looking ahead, Spirent said the softness in its second quarter had “rebounded in June”, although they remained vigilant about the potential impact of coronavirus on customer spending through the rest of the year.
“Our performance is expected to be weighted to the second half of the year. The board remains confident of continued progress and the outlook for the year remains unchanged . As an evolving organisation, Spirent maintains a relentless focus on its customers. We continue to innovate for growth by investing across our portfolio and maintain an acute focus on driving operational excellence”, the company said.
"While there is much to deliver in the second half, our fundamentals, operational platform and balance sheet remain strong. Spirent will continue to manage through the crisis, executing on our strategy, with a relentless focus on customer centricity, innovation for growth and operational excellence", added chief executive Eric Updyke.
In a note on Thursday, analysts at Liberum said they were confident of Spirent “at least meeting our full year expectations” and reiterated their ‘buy’ rating and 310p target price.
The company’s shares were 3.1% lower at 273.8p in early deals.