Promethean revenues hit by tender delays
CLASSROOM technology provider Promethean World has reported a 17% slump in first half revenues, which it blamed on tender delays in its international division.
The group which has its headquarters in Blackburn despite mostly operating in North America and other overseas markets, said it was hoping to see a pick up in demand during the second half. It maintained its forecast for the full year as a result of a brighter outlook in the North America, which accounts for more than half of all sales.
In the International region, which includes everywhere outside of North America, Promethean said the timing of tender opportunities had a significant impact on sales volumes.
Its first half revenue was £21.2m (H1 2013: £32.0m), which was below expectations. The company said this reflecting “some instability in certain countries and continued softness in southern European markets.”
Total revenues in the six months to the end of June, which were also impacted by the weak US dollar, came in at £57.7m, 17.6% lower than the first half of 2013. Reported revenues have been impacted by the weakness of the US dollar. On a constant currency basis, group revenues were 11.6% lower than in H1 2013.
Operating losses rose from £3.4m to £6.4m, while the group posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of £1.7m, compared with a first half profit of £2.5m at the same stage a year ago.
Chief executive Jim Marshall said: “Promethean has competed well during the period and we expect to meet market expectations for 2014. In North America, trading conditions are continuing to recover and our US dollar revenues were ahead of the first half of last year. In the International region a number of factors have moved the balance of revenues towards the second half of the year, and this has depressed H1 results compared to the equivalent period last year.”
He said Promethean was moving fron becoming a hardware provider to being a “software and solutions driven company”, but stressed this would take time.
“The impact of our software strategy will only begin to be felt towards the end of this year, but we expect it to grow steadily from next year onwards. In the meantime, we will continue to manage our business prudently and conserve our cash.”
