Premier profit slips

The Leeds-based company, which said last month that chief executive Harriet Green would be joining tour operator Thomas Cook in July, said first-quarter adjusted pre-tax profits fell 13 per cent to £20.9m on sales down five per cent to £241m.

The group, which sells products such as batteries, computer parts and security products to engineers in over 100 countries, said sales in both Europe and Asia Pacific grew on its fourth quarter by 2.1 and 8.5 per cent respectively but North America fell by 2.7 per cent.

Sales in Europe, its biggest market, fell 7.3 per cent year-on-year hurt by euro zone turbulence.

Incoming chief executive Laurence Bain said: “As comparators become easier from the middle of the year and with the benefit of a 53rd week we expect growth to return in the second half.

“However as we have limited forward visibility and in light of the economic outlook we remain cautious.”

In March the firm reported a slip in profit for its 2011/12 fiscal year, missing analyst expectations.

Shares in the FTSE 250 firm closed at 153.2p on Wednesday, down 43 per cent on a year ago, valuing the business at around £578m.

On Tuesday Premier became the latest UK company to see a protest over executive pay, with just under a third of its shareholders voting against its remuneration report.

The company said 32.1 per cent of its shareholders voted against the report at its annual general meeting with 67.9 per cent voting in favour.