SRT Marine Systems hit by contract delays

Marine tech group SRT Marine Systems said it expects to make a loss for the year ending 30 June after longer-than-expected administration processes pushed certain contracts into the next financial year.

The company, which specialises in maritime domain awareness systems, said two projects in the systems business which were expected to be recognised this fiscal year have been delayed, which will see the company miss out on £14m of expected revenue this year.

One of the contracts, with an unnamed Middle Eastern coast guard customer, took longer than expected to finalise due to the customer amending the scope of the project. The other contract, with a South East Asian national coast guard customer, has been hit by delays completing an inter-government loan between UK Export Finance and the unnamed country.

Meanwhile, in March, SRT moved its year-end date from 31 March to 30 June to meet certain financial ratios for a specific contract opportunity with a new Asian customer. However, the company revealed that a delay in receipt of revenues "means that the original objective of the year end date move may not be achieved".

Chief executive Simon Tucker said: "I fully understand and empathise with the concerns of our shareholders at this time, and personally apologise that our financial performance this year is not expected to be as we had predicted. These are short term delays, with short term consequences."

The stock, which has fallen nearly 60% so far this year, rebounded slightly after Friday's statement, rising 4.4% to 19p by 0902 BST.