Xaar warns on 2018 revenue as final three months disappoint

Cambridge-based Xaar, which supplies industrial inkjet printheads, warned on Friday that revenue for 2018 will be below the previous year as trading in the three months to December has continued to be below its expectations.

The company said that while good progress has been made in developing potential future revenue streams through partnerships with a number of OEMs who are basing their next generation products on the Xaar 5601 Thin Film printhead technology, revenues in the shorter-term have continued to be hit by declining sales into Ceramics and slower-than-expected uptake of the Xaar 1201 product.

As a result, the board now expects revenue in the six months to December 2018 to be only slightly better than in the first half, excluding £9.8m of one-off royalties received in the first half. Meanwhile, revenue for the year as a whole is expected to come in at around £64m, and sales mix effects are expected to continue to dent gross profit margins. Revenue for 2017 came in at £100.1m.

"The board continues its review of strategic options for more extensive partnering in the printhead business unit and we expect to update shareholders on progress with this when we announce preliminary results on 21 March 2019," it said.