Premier Farnell enjoying a better start to the year

The Leeds-based group, which sells everything from batteries to semiconductors in more than 100 countries worldwide, said pre-tax profits fell 33 per cent to £70.6m in the year to February 3.

However, trading picked up as the year progressed and pre-tax profits were down six per cent to £21.5m in the fourth quarter.

Chief executive Laurence Bain said: “Topline momentum since the start of the year is positive.

“We saw continuous improvement in the fourth quarter as a number of strategic programmes are starting to see a re- turn.”

Some 75 per cent of the group’s business in Europe is now carried out over the internet and globally e-commerce makes up 58 per cent of sales.

The group’s element14 website, dubbed a Facebook for engineers, had 150,000 registered users at the end of January.

“With element14, we’re seeing a conversion rate that’s 50 per cent above normal conversion rates,” said Mr Bain.

The group is launching a new web platform in Canada in May. Once this is rolled out successfully, the new platform will be rolled out in the US, and then the rest of the world.

Mr Bain said the platform will deliver higher speeds and customers will be able to find the products they want more quickly while also be able to access associated products.

“We’ve done a lot of research around usability and customer experience. Customers will find it easier to navigate the site,” he said.