Premier Farnell returns to growth in Q4

ELECTRONICS components distributor Premier Farnell said sales and operating profit returned to growth in the fourth quarter of a year where its underlying pretax profit fell 24 per cent.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Mar 2010, 08:25 BST

The Leeds-based company, which distributes items like batteries and microchips to companies such as Philips, Microsoft and Nokia, said sales and underlying operating profit grew by 6 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively in the fourth quarter compared with the year before.

"As we moved into the first quarter, which is seasonally our strongest, this performance accelerated, with group sales growing over 15 percent in February on the prior year," said chief executive Harriet Green.

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Pretax profit in the year to January 31 fell to 54.8m from 72.5m the year before, in line with forecasts.

Market expectations for full-year pretax profit had ranged between 50.1m and 56.9m, with the average at 52.4m.

Revenue dropped by 10 per cent to 795.3m.

The company is paying a final dividend of 5.2 pence per share, unchanged, making a total dividend of 9.4 pence.

Shares in Premier Farnell closed yesterday at 200.3 pence, valuing the business at 722m.

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