EKT is having the turn around most companies would like to have at the beginning of the economic recovery.

The change of management and subsequent restructuring has brought the desire effect on the company fortunes, by eliminating loss making business and careful control on cost, they had managed an operating profit on all the three divisions at the Interim stage.

The good news has not finished there, as new products were introduced and were well received and the next stage will be for expansion on the Far East markets on selected niche areas of component distribution.

A 14% reduction on borrowing at a time of restructuring is very significant to the aims of the company for the future.

At 7.125p the shares have plenty of upside from now on, not only from the recovery on profits, but also from the most likely return of dividends at the final and that will be the icing on the cake for the share price.
Update
27th Oct 03 Elektron Employee Benefit Trust buys 300th shares at 6.40p
29th Oct 03 Director Richard Bulgin buys 25K at 7.25p latest

Links Chart & Indicators Intraday 5 days Number of people who have visited this thread

Sounds worth having a look at.What do you think they will go up to in e.g.
2 weeks?

Does anyone have any info on EKT?

can anyone explain what the Share Reorganisation means, especially for someone who has over 10k shares.

Elektron is looking ready to break out of its trading range now. Profits climbing very strongly and more new products to be launched shortly

Premier farnell have a lead page on EKT with more new products. Sales were rising without new products so this is far better news.

The co have indicated buy back of shares and an enhanced divided.

For a cash generative co with no net debt and cash in the bank of 2.6 million, market cap of 12 million and profits forecast at 2 million this year the shares are far too cheap.

Link to lead page...


http://uk.farnell.com/static/en/findings/DF19/arcolectric.htm

Good article on EKT.Registration to the site is free.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/registered/articles/article.asp?EKT

Elektron plc : Electronics company shows how it should be done

Bulletin Boards. Forums. Chat Rooms. The internet is overflowing with them. And where do all of the get rich quick crowd who use these boards gather nowadays? Oil stocks.

Any oil company with even a whiff of black goo in the ground is subject to intense speculation and extreme volatility as punters pile in and out, influenced by the crafty expertise of market makers moving the share price up and down to generate volume and newspapers tipping stocks they barely understand. Is it any wonder that most new private investors on average lose all their money in the first 3 months

Interesting observation today from a well repected commentator. (armshare)
"
.......falls into that clique of AIM companies (including Elektron and Tricorn) where the business has been long established and addresses niche markets but has become commercially 'stuck', and where an industry relevant individual with experience of running a multi site operation has joined as CEO or executive chairman and starts enabling the latent potential to be realised through bringing a broader international perspective to strategic planning and product/process innovation - coincidentally, in the case of all three companies, the appointment occurred at or about early 2003."

Taken from a rival thread/site

Drop the price and flush out sellers. That will not work as today shows.

I have seen a report in draft form written about EKT and it suggests a target price of 28p, this year.This is based on the current year producing eps of 1.98p.
This rises/falls to 2.55p and 11x 07 numbers
They suggest buy backs will continue and have a dramatic effect on the shares that are held very tightly. (Look at today 48,000 shares traded).
They forecast a further increase of 15% in the dividend, but a fall in net cash to just under 1 million (as a result of buy backs)
They go on to say that EKT is well placed to take out small players who are struggling, and that cost saving synergies will enhance both the forward prtofit and the EKT balance sheet.
The document is well written and follows several meetings with the team there.
It is for private clients of a stockbroker. I think a certain person on here will be jumping for joy.
Tiger
ps i do have a position in EKT as well. thus creating 14x earnings. This rises/falls to 2.55p and 11x 07 numbers

Electrocomponents AGM statement bodes well for Elektron.

At the finals international trading was up 15% at ECM and with the UK flat total sales up 9%. At the time of the AGM Elecrocomponents was trading 16% up in their international business and total sales up 9%.

Looks good for EKT as over 66% of sales are exported and EKT stated they would hope to gain market share particularly in the far east.

I think its now time to sell this dog. With oil prices rising to record levels..such high energy costs will without doubt be hurting manufacturers like EKT. High oil price will have a drastic knock on effect on raw material costs and as they were already being squeezed before, you can bet your life EKT will be squeezed even more with oil price soaring. With high prices, inflation will be stoaked which will result in interest rate rises. US have raised them, Japan have raised them for the first time in 6 years.

Oil price rise will hamper world growth..and I suspect EKT could well warn that such effects will badly effect EKT's bottom line.

this isnt just about 'gasoline' prices. Oil is used to make a vast majority of products which EKT manufacture. So yes, petrol/deisel prices affect EKT.. but oil as a whole affects EKT .. not only as fuel to power their heating, machinary, distribution... but as importantly the raw materials that is derived from oil that ekt buy to make their products.

You would be deluding yourself if you think oil prices rising will not negatively affect EKT... and its not easy passing on costs to the end user......read the last rns.. they are trying to absorb the price rises and gain market share. BUT that means sacrificing margins... which effectively means hitting the bottom line.

Look.. just see the price in the past 2 years.. its gone absolutely nowhere fast... have you asked yourself why ? do you really think the market is so stupid to overlook the rosey scenario you and the rose tinted Dr, (target setter)... has put forward ?

EKT's share price is going nowhere..... all the huffing and puffing T/S aka fusebox has done for the past 2 years has proved absolutely fruitless. you are going to be very disappointed in the next 6 to 12 months as the share price will girate in a range. And heaven help you (and more so T/S) if ekt issue a warning... as at the moment with the global economy slow down (compounded by inflation and oil price rises), ekt will be no doubt affected.

If anything, one should sell this stagnant and stale dog and invest in companies that are beneficiaries of high oil prices...... oil producers and explorers.. that's where the money is being made.


STRONG SELL !!

you 100% correct Ratty.. as commodity prices increase.. they will get ever more squeezed (they have already acknowledged they are being squeezed) And to gain market share at the expense of margins is suicidal.

I am certainly sick and tired of this dog, i hold over 3% of the company and my average price is a lot higher than what it is now.... I am sitting on massive losses. And to top it all, the prospect of higher inflation, higher interest rates, higher commodity prices, slower world growth and squeezed margins make the possibility of EKT warning which really would wipe me out. I may just start to sell very soon... as my money has done nothing..... what a mistake i made buying this out and out dog !!

lol

lol

you may well laugh... i'm certainly not. I am holding over 3% and nursing losses. I bought MOB and it tanked. And bought JAS, it went bust. I bought EVS, it went bust. I bought BVC..now virtually worth naff all. So its not something to laugh at.... i really have made a dumb call buying EKT. nearly 3% of the doggy biscuits...... its done nothing for me in 2 years but give me heart ache. To top it all, holding 3% and I have nil chance of selling such amount of stock in a very illiquid stock... when will i ever learn ?..... time for my transquilisers.

Unfortunately you dont hold 3% I do.

LOL

Yes and very happy too as this nice little earner has rissen from 2p to 15p to buy in 3 years and paid me thousands in dividends as well!

sorry but you are taking the piss. it may have risen 2p to 15p in three years... but my average is well above what it is now. So fat good harping on about what its done in the past 3 years when in the past 24 months let alone 12 months its done naff all. Even taking a 4 to 5 year view.. its dropped 50%.

And the prospect of EKT of being ever more squeezed is a very real reality.... I expect them to warn sooner or later regarding this. Hence I am seriously thinking of starting to dump this dog. Although I have been ramping this sick pup for over 2 years, fat good its done me.. i am still 1000s of quid worse off... my average higher than what its now....

fusebox (barry), ignore the idiot Ron Kleet. He is a wind up merchant. I can vouch for fusebox holding 3%. And I can understand him being pissed off with the share. Good on you fusebox to realise you are holding a dud... i suggest you start selling as I think its going down further as the market feels that EKT could warn.

lol

But the facts speak for themselves.

In the same time scale ECM aint moved EKT is up from 2p to 15p Fact.

EKT nett assets are up from less than 1 million to over 6.5 million now.

Dividend paying and current growth of 15% with no intangibles and net debt.

Yes im happy with my 3% plus holding.

You guys fusebox loverat and spec7 are wind ups.

I dont know who you are, or what you are playing at. Everyone knows me on a-d-v-f-n, and knows that I am fusebox who has posted on the ekt thread for around 2 years. they know I own 3%... the RNS is there for everyone to see. I hold the stock in TD Waterhouse's nominee account.... I am now fed up with the company.... so contemplating selling my stock. Loverat and Spectrum who also post on a-d-v-f-n have just vouched for my genuineness.. you on the other hand are a fraud and a wind up merchant.

too right barry, this stock is king of all dogs. I believe the directors are entering it for crufts.. as its a favourite to win. You are wise to sell your holding..... a warning is a very strong possibility.

i sold 50k today. market makers dont want stock. had to accept 0.25p less than what was offered on the screen. Looks like I'm well and truely shafted holding over 2 million of these doggy biscuits !! Still will off load as many as I can.. even though I think the share is ready for a fall very soon.

are you barry bridge ? you'll have massive problems selling such a big amount. If the market makers find out you are consitently dumping stock they will hammer the share to oblivion. Market makers really dont want any stock, max limit today was 10,000. Good luck, you'll need it with such an illiquid share.

sold another 30k today. once more got 0.25p less.

Bought 50,000 at 13.75 the other day and another 30,000 today.

Bargain of the century.

Great tip from Red Hot Penny shares...

READ THIS
The Japanese, you will recall, were very good at borrowing the inventions of others and manufacturing quality products in very high volumes. And down in the unglamorous setting of East Molesey, I discovered a great little British company that is doing very much the same thing.

How do the following innovations sound to you? An iron that turns itself off if it has not been moved from the horizontal position for 20 seconds. A washing machine that recognises the contents of the wash and automatically sets the correct programme. A cooker hood that switches itself on when it smells fumes...

These are just some of the products that are coming our way. And they are made possible by the prevalence and affordability of the type of electronic and electromechanical components that I watched being churned out in huge numbers at the south west London factory of Arcoelectric.

Unknown in the Square Mile... just the way I like it

Along with Bulgin Components, another business that can trace its history back to the 1930s, Arcoelectric is now owned by Elektron, and run by its executive chairman, Adrian Girling. Girling, 54, could, I am sure, be in charge of a much larger company. He is an Oxford graduate, a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. He is also a highly experienced businessman, having worked all over the world for the likes of ITT, Marconi and Spirent. He is an enthusiast for the manufacturing industry - but is frustrated, too. "Last year was hard work," he reported in May's results statement, "but great fun."

But he complained: "There are companies who do not have the channels to market enjoyed by Bulgin and Arcoelectric, who lose money, yet are valued at multiples of sales because they claim to have a unique technological business proposition."

That is not a sentence that would win prizes in a literary competition, but it does reveal one thing. Elektron does not employ a PR advisor to smarten up the prose. Which is one reason why it is virtually unknown in the City.

But the City's loss is our gain. Because this is a great story that I will take up at the start of 2003, when Girling's reputation as a fixer of problem businesses saw him dropped into a crisis...

When the going gets tough, this cost-savvy executive chairman gets going

One of Elektron's main subsidiaries was facing liquidation, and this threatened to bring down the whole group. Some swift cost-cutting and the sale or closure of three businesses saved the day, and at the end of the year Girling spotted an opportunity to repeat the trick and give the group some real scale. He bought Arcoelectric from the receiver, in exchange for 352,000 and the assumption of 1,515,000 of lease finance debt.

A property sale and leaseback, which left Andrew Perloff's Panther Securities with 15% of Elektron's equity, and a separate fund raising, put Elektron on a sound footing, and the accounts reveal that Arcoelectric contributed net assets of 2.6m and made sales of 15m last year.

So that was a smart deal and helped Elektron to achieve total sales last year of 22.5m. Elektron produces a very wide range of switches, connectors, battery and fuse holders, indicators and other electro-mechanical components that are sold all around the world. Both Bulgin and Arcoelectric publish large catalogues from which 20% of sales are made, while 45% go directly to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and 35% are sold through distributors such as Electrocomponents.

Elektron controls the entire production process, from tooling through to the injection moulding of plastic parts, metal forming, plating and assembly. This ensures consistent quality, quick response times and the ability to make small batches. Every hour Elektron is winding 60,000 miniature springs, some only a millimetre in diameter, and pressing 200,000 contacts and terminals. In all, it manufactures 72m components each year.

This AIM-listed marvel also pays a dividend! Buy today for 75% gains

Not all of these come from East Molesey, or from Bulgin's factory in Barking, Essex. Twenty million and 10m respectively are manufactured in Arcoelectric's factories in Tunisia and Shenzhen. Using what he describes as the "one kitchen, two restaurants" concept, Girling is gradually integrating the production capacity of Bulgin and Arcoelectric, so that orders can be met from either China, North Africa or the UK, depending on logistic costs and delivery schedules.

But he also wants Elektron to become a supplier into the domestic Chinese market. At present the Shenzhen factory can only serve the export market, but it is now being established as a "Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise", which will permit it to sell into the vast local market.

This should accelerate the growth of sales, which was a modest 3% last year, and boost Elektron's share of what is a massive market. Global sales of switches are worth $3.8bn per year, while for connectors the figure is $25bn. Girling reckons that Elektron has about 7%-8% of the market segment that it serves, but is winning share from competitors such as Signal Lux and Molveno in Italy, Germany's Marquardt, Schurter in Switzerland and Defond from China.

Some of this is due to product innovation. Girling does "not believe in breaking new ground with high technology", and the research and development bill is minimal. But by simply using existing technology in imaginative ways, Elektron's product designers have steadily come up with new products - a recent best seller being a waterproof Bluetooth wireless connector.

My visit to Elektron's offices was enough to show me that shareholders' money is not lavished on elegant surroundings, and such tight cost control is one reason why it has bounced back from the 6m of losses run up in the two years ending 31 January 2003 to record a 0.5m pre-tax profit in 2003/4, rising to 1.5m in 2004/5 and 1.8m last year. Even more impressive was the 20% increase in shareholders' funds last year (now worth 8.3p per share) and the cash generation that saw Elektron finish the year with net cash of 443,000 and leave it poised for expansion.

RHPS Verdict: In May Elektron reported a 15% year-on-year increase in its order book, and hinted that it might make an acquisition this year. Given the successful turnaround of Bulgin and Arcoelectric, a similar move would surely be well received. Shares in this financially sound, profitable, dividend-paying and growing business trade on below eight times last year's earnings. This is ridiculous and I am setting a price target of 25p. BUY.

Finished up over 15% up in a bad market looks good.

Been a lot of buying recently over 1% traded yesterday,

Net assets have climbed considrably from 0.70p 3 years ago to 8.3p now!

Bue sky again the tip above will drive the sp forward.

Rumour of early results and possible acquistion pushed EKT up 10% this way. Still at 17.5p to buy its well short of Red Hot Penny shares target of 25p.

EKT is likely to show a minimum upside of 50% from here. The co is set to draw in more cost savings of circa 900,000 next year.

If one allows for the fact EKT mad just short of 1.8 million lasy year thats just 50%.

With potential sales increase as well the upside could be higher.

The co has hinted at 2 acquisitions as well soon.

Looks like things are starting to take off here :-)

Ekt breaks out today and the sp could rise fast from here as cost cuts will boost profits btween 50% and 100%.

EKT broker note... predicts a dire outlook. doesnt mate good reading.

can be downloaded from here :

http://freefilehosting.net/download/422ij

gives an idea of the current trends in the sector. House Broker has downgraded the price target from 16p to 12p.

Highlights :

Outlook and Valuation. The order book is currently 5.5m or 0.9m softer
than at this time last year. We have therefore trimmed our sales forecasts for FY10 and FY11 to reflect these deteriorating conditions. In light of this and recent macro economic events, we reduce our fair value estimate from 16p to 12p or 6.6x our FY10 EPS estimate of 1.83p.
===============

2008 EPS 2.77p
2009 EPS 0.96p ............... -65% from 2008
2010 EPS 1.85p................ -33% from 2008
2011 EPS 2.27p................ -18% from 2008

So even looking out to 3 years on.... EPS will be LOWER than what it achieved this year.

=============

page 2 :

we do note that the average PER for the group has decreased from
7.35x to 5.48x and we are therefore compelled to reduce our fair value estimate on this basis.

we accept that electronic manufacturing and consumer electronic end markets are suffering under the current global economic crisis and finding sources of funding to acquire companies have and will continue to be a challenge over the near-term. Therefore, we expect management to focus on improving operations in both the UK and overseas and do not expect any significant acquisitions for the rest of this calendar year.


Given the current macro economic climate and the specific risk of
Elektron delivering its business plan to acquire and relocate
manufacturing operations to China and Tunisia, we reduce our fair
value estimate to 12p (Old; 16p) or 6.6x our FY10 EPS estimate of
1.83p.

HOUSE BROKER DOWNGRADES ELEKTRON

5,000,000 IN DEBT

GOING BUST SOON !!


LATEST BROKER NOTE HERE.... MAKES DIRE READING :

http://freefilehosting.net/download/422ij

Yep slowly but surely going bust !!

I have watched this since Keith Roy joined as non exec in 2008 after 30 years with Halma, a particularly rewarding investment for me over last 30 years ( and still doing OK!). Interesting set of half year figures today. Sales down 27% but gross margins up, cash has been generated from operations and balance sheet in reasonable shape. Sales drop not wholly unexpected as previous comments suggested they were slowly moving into better margin business. Nothing wrong imo with the "Sales are vanity, Profits are sanity and Cash is king philosophy" which they seem to be applying. Nevertheless, EKT is working hard to stand still.They do not appear to be going backwards, however and prospects improving in some of their markets. Although definitely not for widows and orphans, I have dipped a toe in - always DYOR

Bit of a co-incidence, but on the day of the EKT results Hartest Holdings (HTH) announce possible takeover this afternoon -at initial offer 50p. EKT owns approx 23% of HTH and was itself involved in abortive talks with them earlier this year (at price 25p). If the deal does proceed, however, should a nice little boost to the second half profits of EKT - reading of exceptional gains makes a pleasant change from the more usual exceptional losses these days and the cash will be useful.

Bit of movement today, although very illiquid. Could be that the bid for HTH is nearing its conclusion (Delta Controls earlier indicative offer raised from 50p to 61p) - takeover panel deadline for "put up or shut up" is end of this month. Would be a nice boost for EKT if it did happen, as they have struggled in own trading last couple of years.

Breaking out on the 15 month

edit but must fill it out with something a long term chart ......

edit

1 post and money am convert it into 3 post

What is going on

Good news on two fronts today - big improvement in underlying trading and looks like they have persuaded Delta to offer a bit more for HTH (now 69p).

Some nibbling last few days is encouraging - trading statement suggested year just ended will be better than expected earlier. Deadline for HTH bid extended to 22nd Feb. Only negative for me is recent departure of highly competent non exec director. I hold.

Delta offer for HTH did not proceed, but EKT taken that in its stride (HTH performing well in own right) and looking strong ahead of results to end of January.

More activity than usual today - perhaps trading statement after Easter. If Barclays Stockbrokers website is to be believed, broker forecasts eps 3.4p for year ended Jan 2011 and 4.4p for 2012. Even with their patchy track record, P/E ratio of 3 or 4 looks a bit harsh to me, but always DYOR. I hold.

Encouraging trading update today. Prospective P/E still in low single figures after recent rise and may even get a decent dividend later in the year. I still hold.

Very strong again today. Nice to win one occasionally, although never won until profit banked and I still hold these.

Expected good results posted today.Prospects look sufficiently encouraging for me to continue to hold, but always DYOR.

Been lonely on here - anyone know why the spurt today?

Looks like another stock getting too high too quickly. I have been watching these for years and have never rated them much.

Must be a screaming buy then!

Appreciate both inputs, although question not answered. Like your style, tab! Recent trading performance has been first class, albeit very short time since big problems. Have sold sufficient to more than recover initial outlay and will watch the remainder with interest over the next year or two.

This has certainly woken up. Having tried and failed to buy HTH at 25p, then seen a bid from Delta for HTH fail at around 70p, EKT has now bitten the bullet and acquired third party stake at 90p sufficient to give them control and make mandatory offer for the rest. Recent trading statement suggests they are coming out of the doldrums and HTH also recovered well last 12 months. The change in strategy from doomed to failure UK manufacturer of bulk (i.e cheap) electronic components to a more niche (and now in a small way global) manufacturer of higher margin components requiring collaboration and innovation has been painful, but the business now seems at a watershed in its history. Could go either way, but I am happy to hold what I have left. Always DYOR.

Tab - looks like you were right on post 53! Gartmore Investment now on board with 7% and this tiddler looking to break into a different league. Haystack - price now 36p after jump on Friday and may indeed have got a bit ahead of itself, but results due 16th September should give better indication of whether it is just hype or if they really are on the right track.

Hartest document not far off the share price should start to strengthen soon on done deal and interims in September.

Elektron sure to pay an interim dividend now.

Don't really follow your logic, cornflakes, but hope you are right about the divi. They are likely to need to hang onto cash to help fund the Hartest acquisition. As PIs, we are unlikely to be asked to stump up for a rights issue to help fund the Hartest deal (no way they could do it all on debt and it would probably worry me if they tried to) so it would be nice if shareholders such as us got the divi and the newcomers did not. We shall see. In any event, the interims this time awaited with expectation rather than hope...

Excellent half year figures from EKT today - and token interim dividend a gesture of real confidence. Crude estimate for combined unit with Hartest is around 5p eps (4m EKT, 1m HTH and approx 100m shares) so does not on the face of it look expensive at last night's close 30p. It remains to be seen, however, if the management is as good at growing it as they have been at turning it around. Happy to personally give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but always dyor

Financial Highlights:
Sales up 45% to 20.6 million (H1 2009: 14.2 million)

EBITDA (pre exceptionals) up 323% to 3.0 million (H1 2009: 0.7 million)

EBIT (pre exceptionals) up eleven-fold to 2.6m million (H1 2009: 0.23 million)

Exceptional costs of 0.4 million largely relating to costs of acquisition of Hartest Holdings Plc ("Hartest")

Maiden interim dividend of 0.25p proposed and payable on 15 December 2010

Order book up 48% on last year, but the Directors continue to be cautious about the second half economic environment.

Nice comments from Investors Chronicle last week .......

Impressive results from Elektron
Created: 20 September 2010 Written by: Nigel Bolitho

It's boom time for the UKs small but niche manufacturing sector. A combination of a weak pound and booming emerging markets has resulted in some manufacturers such as Elektron expressing big ambitions: chairman Keith Daley believes that, in time, Elektron could become a member of the FTSE 250.

Elektron's results (and share price) are certainly motoring. In the half year to end-July 2010, margins widened appreciably, exceptional costs fell and the company was again blessed with a miniscule tax charge. The main division makes and distributes branded components (notably connectors and switches) and in the six months pushed up operating profits from 800,000 to 2m on sales a third higher at 15.4m. At the same time the business incubator division (bespoke temperature instruments to router cutters) turned a loss of 400,000 into a 600,000 profit.

In July 2010, Elektron purchased a 23 per cent share stake in precision instruments maker Hartest from Viking raider Peter Gyllenhammar and has since completed the 8m acquisition. The jewel of the deal may be Hartests Delhi subsidiary as a gateway to sales in India for the whole company. The current half year has started well and researcher Brokerlink forecasts 12-months sales some 20m higher at 49m, pre-exceptional profits up from 1.62m to 4.90m as earnings jump from 1.95p to 4.20p.

Also encouraging to see new Finance Director (and former Hartest Chief Exec) buy 125,000 shares today.

Has trod water last few months, but some sizeable shareholdings have changed hands (in particular Panther Securities gone from 20% to less than 6%). I take encouragement from trading statement today from Delcam and think there may be nice surprise with next results. Always dyor.

Is there any interest in a new thread here ?

Strong financial results at a time of significant change bodes well. Still a long way to go, but balance sheet in decent shape and start of current year suggests more growth on the way. Not looking expensive imo on fundamentals, but always dyor.

Elektron Technology (AIM:EKT) results don’t say too much but surely some focus is needed!

See more at: http://tinyurl.com/o3m9eav

StockMarketWire.com
Elektron Technology's group operating profits rose by 80% to £0.9m in the year to the end of January on reduced revenues of £43.3m (2015: £44.4m).

Profit before tax rose to £0.8m (2015: £0.2m) and underlying operating profits (before non-recurring or special items) from Connectivity and Instrumentation, Monitoring and Control (IMC) rose by 42% to £3.4m (2015: £2.4m). Checkit start-up losses increased to £2.2m (2015: £0.7m) while net debt fell by £1.1m to £1.6m (2015: £2.7m).

Other highlights include:
- The Group successfully balanced its investment in new product development (particularly Checkit) with the incoming cash flow from its established businesses as targeted

- A further £1.5m of capitalised development costs invested in Checkit in the year

- Checkit launched its work management system in October 2015

- Agar business sold after the year end for £2.0m cash proceeds and a further £0.3m deferred amount

Chief executive John Wilson said: "These results, together with the recently announced disposal, demonstrate the further progress we have made. We have continued to improve current business performance, allowing investment to establish a high growth portfolio of brands for the longer term.

"We remain focused on key new product development programmes, in particular relating to the Checkit brand and where possible, realising value from our current portfolio. The Board is confident that this strategy will deliver improved shareholder value in the longer term."