(Alliance News) - Zytronic PLC on Tuesday said revenue was down by a quarter in the first half, as it looks to address "headwinds".

The Tyne & Wear, England-based touch sensors manufacturer said revenue in the six months that ended March 31 was GBP4.7 million, down 23% from GBP5.9 million a year prior.

The drop in revenue was partly due to a 4.5% hit from the impairment of GB200,000 of stock associated with the bankruptcy of customer Aruze Gaming America Inc.

Pretax loss was GBP897,000, swinging from a profit of GBP399,000 a year ago, due to the impairment.

The company did not declare an interim dividend, unchanged from 2022. Zytronic said it is "prudent" to pay no dividend as it did not record profit during the period.

Looking ahead, the company said it expects the headwinds cause by the bankruptcy of AGA, and product overstocking will continue to the end of the financial year.

Interim Chair Mark Butcher said: "Having been confident in December 2022 that the group was positioned for progress, it is disappointing to report these results for the six months to 31 March 2023. As recently announced on 4 May 2023, we have downgraded our expectations for the full year even though there remain encouraging signs reflected by the increase in the number of open opportunities in our pipeline.

"As a board we are working on a number of initiatives to address the headwinds the group is currently facing so that the group may return to revenue growth and profitability as soon as practicably possible."

Zytronic shares were trading flat at 100.00 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon, having earlier fallen to 92.00p.

By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter

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