Solid State's profits improve as order book grows

Solid State, a manufacturer and specialist design-in distributor to the electronics industry, reported an increase in profits on Tuesday after sales grew and gross margins improved.

For the six-month period ended 30 September adjusted profit before tax increased by 6% to £1.7m compared to the same period last year, as revenue jumped by 4% to £23.5m and gross margins rose to 29.1% from 28.4%.

After a string of successful contract wins, the company’s order book stood at £29.4m at the end of the period, up 46% over a year.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at £1.8m, up from £0.6m at the beginning of the period, and the AIM traded company declared an interim dividend of 4.2p per share, up 5% on-year.

Tony Frere, chairman of Solid State, said: "These results are very pleasing and provide a good foundation for the year as a whole. The strength of the order book and the recent acquisition of Pacer Technologies give the board confidence in being able to deliver a stronger second half and continued longer term growth."

Pacer was purchased post period end for £3.73m and is expected to add circa £15m revenues and £0.5m operating profit to the Value Added Distribution division on an annualised basis. Based in the UK and US, Pacer's products include industrial LEDs and light sources, lasers and laser range finders, photon detection and counting equipment, with its customers including a range of blue chip companies.

Solid State’s shares were up 2.85% at 325.00p at 0923 GMT.