Promethean hit by decline in US sales
PROMETHEAN World blamed ongoing conditions in the North American market for a first quarter fall in revenues of £35.9m – down 14.4% on the £41.9m achieved last year.
Revenues to the North American market were down by 40%, which the Blackburn-based company described as “a greater decline than anticipated”.
It said there had been greater volatility in the US market than expected, but that it was too early to tell whether this decline would continue during the key June-September buying season for its equipment.
Other international sales grew by 22%, buoyed by a large new contract win in Russia – albeit on lower margins.
It finished the first quarter with net cash of £12.2m, compared with £21.8m at the end of 2011.
“The cash outflow in the period reflects current trading and the usual seasonality of the business in addition to the ongoing investment in key strategic initiatives, including final payments relating to the 2010 acquisition of SynapticMash,” it said.
The company also said the business had continued to make progress in other areas, with its new ActivTable product due to ship later this year and its online Promethean Planet learning community now reaching 1.3m members – an increase of 38.5% on the same period last year.
“We continue to expect that market conditions will remain challenging, particularly in the US and Europe, with growth anticipated in our International region for the year as a whole. 2012 revenues are expected to be weighted more heavily to the second half of the year than in 2011.”
