Premier Farnell sees return to growth in second half

The Leeds-based company’s shares rose five per cent this morning on hopes that the company’s performance will pick up over the coming months.

The group said its stronger second quarter had improved its year-on-year sales decline from 5.0 per cent in the first quarter to 3.3 per cent for the first half.

Premier has had to cope with industry contraction of 10 per cent in America and Europe during May, June and July.

Second quarter pre-tax profits fell from £23m to £18.4m.

Over the first half as a whole they fell by 51 per cent from £65m to £32m.

Sales of credit card sized computer Raspberry Pi rose to £3.9m in the second quarter, ahead of expectations,

Premier’s chief executive Laurence Bain said: ‘’In very challenging global markets we continue to show resilience and make strategic progress.

“At a global level we have now had four consecutive quarters of stable sales per day within a market that continued to decline.

“With our customer base increasing further in the second quarter and our year on year sales performance improving from Q1 to

Q2 in Europe and the Americas - the business continues to perform well on a comparative basis.”

Premier said that as markets recover it anticipates its gross margin returning to its longer term average range.