Slingsby warns of pre-tax loss

In a trading update issued ahead of its annual general meeting this morning, the company, which is based at Baildon, near Bradford, said lower levels of trading had been exacerbated by a notable decrease in public sector spend.

If the company experiences similar trading for the second half of the year, chairman John Waterhouse said the six months to December 31 would result in a more “substantial loss”.

Last year, Slingsby saw pre-tax profit fall from £422,000 to £102,000 and turnover dipped to £14.6m from £15.2m.

Mr Waterhouse said new investments, which are due to be completed towards the end of the year, would place the company in a stronger position.

“Our cash position remains strong,” he said. “We continue to invest in our customer loyalty schemes and the new web infrastructure, which is expected to be completed in late 2013. The board believes that these initiatives will place the company in a stronger position to compete in the more dynamic e-commerce environment and enable it to leverage our substantial key account base.”