Petards sees FY profits hoisted above expectations

Surveillance group Petards said it expected full year pre-tax profits to be above market expectations, although £1m in revenues would be deferred into 2018.

Petards said 2017 would be up year on year to £15.6m. The deferral was due to delays in programmes to develop additional software functionality for eyeTrain systems.

“These relate to scheduled deliveries of both software and equipment and accordingly profit before tax from trading operations will be lower than previously expected,” the company said.

The results would include two exceptional gains. The first, £0.7m in cash as part of a settlement of an historic matter dating back 10 years.

The second was a reclassification of a £0.2m deficit on the company's currency translation reserve as income from equity and shown as an expense, after the decision to stop undertaking US activities through its present US subsidiary.

Petards said the reclassification has no impact on the net assets or cash.

Chairman Raschid Abdullah, Chairman of Petards Group while the revenue deferral was “disappointing” the group continued to trade profitably and enters 2018 with an order book of £18m.

“Over £12m of this is scheduled for delivery in the coming year and the board remains confident of the group's future prospects," he said.