The Board has approved an interim dividend of 14.0 pence net per share (2019: 14.0 pence) which will be paid on 6 April 2020 to shareholders on the register on 6 March 2020. All directors have waived their rights to the interim dividend which results in the cost of the dividend being £4.8m compared to £10.2m last year.
Other financial highlights include:
Revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2019 was £259.4m, compared with £296.7m for the corresponding period last year, with all regions experiencing a reduction in revenue.
It has been a challenging trading period for the Group due to the global macroeconomic environment, including the ongoing uncertainty caused by the trade tensions between the USA and China and weaker demand in the machine tool sector. The first half of 2019 also benefitted from a number of large orders from end-user manufacturers of consumer electronic products in the APAC region which have not been repeated this year. There are however some positive indications of recovery in the semiconductor market which has benefitted the encoder lines.
Adjusted profit before tax for the first half year was £14.3m compared with £59.6m last year, primarily due to the reduced revenue. Last year's first half benefitted from a £5.3m currency gain, primarily in respect of intra-group balances, compared with a loss of £2.0m in the first half of this year. This year also includes a £2.7m gain arising from the fair value adjustment of a convertible loan option in an associate company and a £2.0m charge from the impairment of intangible assets.
Statutory profit before tax for the first half year was £9.9m, compared with £61.6m last year, which includes a £2.2m charge for restructuring costs and a £2.1m loss from the fair value of derivatives not included in adjusted profit before tax.
Adjusted earnings per share were 15.1p, compared with 69.3p last year. Statutory earnings per share were 10.2p, compared with 71.5p last year.
