Pace has ‘encouraging start’ to year

The Saltaire-based firm is a leading developer of products for pay television and broadband service providers.

Pace had a torrid year in 2011. A profit warning in November over the Thai floods sent its shares as low as 43p, and followed on from previous profit warnings relating to a delayed US order and the impact of the Japanese tsunami.

CITY heavyweight Allan Leighton was called in to conduct a strategic review of Pace in June last year.

Mr Leighton took over as chairman from Mike McTighe, who retired and stepped down after five years in the role.

Pace today published an interim management statement for the 15 weeks to April 14 2012.

In a statement released to coincide with the firm’s annual general meeting, Mr Leighton said: “I am pleased to report that Pace has had an encouraging start to the new financial year with revenue in line with our expectations.

“The business is benefiting from a stronger operational focus and this is delivering tangible benefits in procurement, operating efficiency and costs.

“Profitability in the period continues to be impacted by HDD supply issues but is in line with our expectations. Cash performance in the period has been strong and the financial position of the company remains robust. The new management team is tightly focused on delivering an improved performance in 2012 by meeting our customers’ needs, widening out our product offer and delivering a leaner, more profitable business underpinned by strong underlying cash flow. “We remain confident that revenue in 2012 will be broadly flat, prior to the impact of HDD supply issues, and that a c.7 per cent underlying EBITA margin will be achieved.”