Jobs go as Premier Farnell cuts costs

PREMIER Farnell, the electronic components supplier, saw its third quarter sales decline by 1.6% as it launched a cost action plan to save £4m.

The Leeds-based business reported revenues of £233.5m between August and November, down from £241.8m in the same quarter last year.

For the first nine months of its financial year, revenues have declined by 2.8% to £712.7m. Pre-tax profits were down by 10.8% for the quarter and 41.8% for the nine month period.

It has shed 41 jobs as part of its cost saving measures.

Chief executive Laurence Bain said: “After seeing a slightly positive start to the quarter in August, market conditions remained volatile in September and October and we saw year on year sales declines in those months.

“In November, year on year trends in our MDD Europe and APAC region improved slightly, but the MDD Americas performance declined, partly as a result of the impact of Hurricane Sandy. After adjusting for Sandy, Group year on year sales declined 3.2% in November.”

He added: “With global conditions continuing to be uncertain, and with very limited forward order visibility, we have executed cost actions in the fourth quarter which will deliver annualised savings of £4m.

“In addition, depending on our sales trajectory through the fourth quarter, further cost actions will be taken if momentum does not improve.”

Despite the sales decline, Premier Farnell said its active customer base, excluding Raspberry Pi, was up 2.3% on the prior year.

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