Nordic problems send Brammer’s share price sliding again
MARKETS have reacted badly to tooling company Brammer’s 65% fall in adjusted pre-tax profits, with its share price falling by more than 10% in early trading.
The company has lost 74% of its market value in a tough year, and is now worth around £110m.
Its adjusted profits fell to £5.0m in the six months to June, but a review of its assets resulted in a £16.9m impairment of its Nordic division and a statutory pre-tax loss of £13.9m.
Brammer’s chairman Bill Whiteley said: “Given the current macro-economic uncertainty, we are not expecting any improvements in market conditions in the UK and Europe beyond a return to levels seen in the first four months of the year.”
It has launched a business review led by new chief executive Meinie Oldersma, who was appointed after Ian Fraser retired last month following the profit warning.
Mr Whiteley believes that changes which have already been made will help its performance in the second half of 2016.
He added: “The group will continue to progress its existing operational priorities to improve the UK business, improve underlying gross margins, increase cash generation through stock reduction and reduce net debt. The group should see increasing benefits from these operational improvements in the second half.”
Brammer is headquartered in Knutsford, Cheshire, and has a large operation in Wolverhampton.
Its year-high share price of 327p last August is now a distant memory. In June two daily falls of 16% and 56% dragged its share price down to below 60p, and although it climbed back up to above 100p in July, this morning it is trading just above 80p.
