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Xaar PLC on Tuesday saw its shares decline 7.1% as it posted top line gains but with earnings burdened by increased expenses. The Cambridge, England-based industrial inkjet manufacturer reported a widening of its pretax loss to £2.8 million for the six months that ended June 30, from £2.0 million a year earlier. Shares in Xaar fell 7.1% to 111.00 pence on Tuesday in London. Revenue improved 6.6% to £27.2 million from £25.5 million, with this driven by 21% growth in its Printhead division to £19.9 million from £16.5 million. Xaar credited this advance to increased demand for its jewellery wax printheads. By contrast, EPS revenue fell 16% to £6.3 million from £7.5 million, and Megnajet revenue contracted 15% to £1.1 million from £1.3 million. Xaar noted that both divisions were impacted by ‘tariff uncertainty.’ Despite the top line improvement, increased costs weighed on Xaar’s bottom line. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 15% to £10.7 million from £9.3 million. The company attributed this rise to a combination of small headcount growth, inflationary sales increases and extra IP and legal costs. Xaar did however report a reduction in sales and marketing expenses, falling to £2.3 million from £2.5 million, which it said represented ‘the continued focus on cost management across both salaries and travel expense.’ Looking ahead, Xaar said its expectations for 2025 remain unchanged, ‘despite the additional uncertainty brought by the introduction of tariffs and the continuation of challenging trading conditions.’ The company continues to expect revenue will be second-half weighted, with order volumes anticipated to grow steadily into the next financial year. ‘The start of 2025 has been encouraging with the swift progress made in the jewellery wax market, reflecting the disruptive impact our technology will have in our target markets once OEM products have been launched,’ said Chief Executive John Mills. ‘As expected, EPS performance is constrained due to tariffs adding to existing end market uncertainty and historic weakness in the order pipeline. However, this is being addressed, and we look forward with increased optimism in the medium-term prospects of this business.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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