Petards : 19/09/2019 – Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019

Petards Group plc (AIM: PEG), the AIM quoted developer of advanced security and surveillance systems, is pleased to report its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.

Key Highlights:

• Operational
  • Order book at 30 June 2019 over £15 million (June 2018: £19 million)
  • Current order coverage for H2/2019 circa £7 million with £7 million scheduled for 2020
  • Strong revenue performance for Rail and Traffic products with both up circa 40% over June 2018, but lower Defence activity levels from H2/2018 have continued into 2019
  • New investment in operational and product development capability at QRO
  • Major investment in eyeTrain software solutions of recent years now largely complete
• Financial
  • Revenue down 8% to £8.9 million (2018: £9.7 million)
  • Gross margin increased to 37.5% (2018: 34.6%)
  • Margin increase offset lower revenues; Gross profit £3.3 million (June 2018: £3.3 million)
  • Adjusted EBITDA £766,000 (2018: £1,085,000)
  • Pre-tax profit £206,000 (2018: £514,000)
  • Cash utilised by operating activities £633,000 (June 2018: £966,000 generated)
  • Net debt at 30 June 2019 £0.7 million* (31 Dec 2018: net cash £1.0 million)
  • Diluted EPS 0.35p (2018: 0.88p)

* Includes £0.5 million debt relating to lease liabilities on adoption of IFRS 16 at 1 January 2019. Net cash of £1.0 million at 31 December 2018 excluded these liabilities.

Commenting on the current outlook, Raschid Abdullah, Chairman, said:

'The Group continues to benefit from a good order book which at 30 June 2019 included revenues of almost £7 million for the second half of 2019. This has been supplemented by orders received since June, the majority of which will benefit 2020.

There is also a strong pipeline of new contracts under negotiation which it is anticipated will add to the Group's order book in due course. The Group continues to secure the majority of opportunities available to it, although more recently the timing of expected orders has been later than originally envisaged. Some of the Department for Transport (DfT) franchising decisions during 2019 have affected the timing of some orders.

The Board remains confident in the Group's future prospects and expects to return a satisfactory, albeit lower than previously anticipated, performance for 2019 weighted towards the second half of the year.'

This announcement includes inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

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