Sepura incurs a loss in first half

Sepura, a communications solutions company, recorded a pre-tax loss of €62.1m in the six months ended 30 September, down from a profit of €6.2m in the previous period.

The group’s revenue fell to €43.3m from €92.9m earned in the six months ended 2 October 2015.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to a loss of €10.6m from €9.2m.

Despite trading and the rate of order closure being slower than expected the board believe that the strong order backlog, the pipeline of sales opportunities and the impact of cost reduction activities, profitability will improve in the second half.

The company’s order backlog increased to €86.2m from €56.8m and closing net debt fell to €89.2m from €115.5m.

The board now expects revenue for the current financial year to be in the range of €125m- €135m, which will have a significant impact on the group's results for the current financial year.

Interim chief executive David Barrass said: “We have responded proactively to the particularly challenging start to the year, with some significant recent contract wins in our core markets.

"Our focus is on restoring shareholder value and, while there is considerable work needed to rebuild confidence in our business, I am encouraged by our strong order book for H2 and the commitment I have seen from our customers, partners and employees.”

Looking ahead, 2018 is “expected to result in a stronger financial performance, driven by the availability of new products, a strong sales pipeline, further action on cost reduction and more favourable foreign exchange rates.”

The share price fell 7.64% to 20.09p at 1443 GMT on Tuesday.