Bagir warns on earnings and revenue due to product line delays

AIM-listed Bagir warned on Tuesday that it expects revenue and earnings for the second half of the year to be "materially lower" than market expectations as development of the new production lines at its facilities in Vietnam and Ethiopia has fallen behind schedule.

In an update on its trading for the six months to the end of June, the designer of innovative tailoring said its order book for the second half has slowed as a result of the delay. It noted that adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the first half were around $0.8m, in line with the previous year, while revenues were down to $28m from $33.5m.

Still, Bagir said it expects to record a positive EBITDA contribution in the second half of the year.

Chief executive officer Eran Itzhak said: "Bagir is a stable business with no bank debt and remains well placed. It is frustrating that the delays that we have experienced in the development of our manufacturing facilities have prevented us securing certain larger volume orders in the current financial year.

"However, we remain confident of our strategic plan and our ability in time to substantially increase our customer base. Taking 100% control of our Ethiopian site at the end of June was a significant step forward in achieving this aim."

At 0920 BST, the shares were down 31% to 3p.