Premier Farnell third quarter profit drops

Electronics components supplier Premier Farnell said profit in the third quarter fell amid challenging market conditions as it executes cost cuts in the final quarter which are expected to produce annual savings of 4m pounds.

Pre-tax profit for three months ended October 28th fell to £17.3m compared with £19.4m the same time a year ago. Revenue for the period slipped to £233.5m from £241.8m before

Adjusted pre-tax profit at the FTSE 250 firm fell to £17.3m from £21.1m while adjusted earnings per share fell to 3.4p compared to 4.2p previously.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Laurence Bain said: "After seeing a slightly positive start to the quarter in August, market conditions remained volatile in September and October and we saw year on year sales declines in those months. As a result, our third quarter sales declined 1.6%."

The group, which is moving focus towards markets in Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea as UK and Europe sales dwindle said: "With global conditions continuing to be uncertain, and with very limited forward order visibility, we have executed cost actions in the fourth quarter which will deliver annualised savings of £4m."

Premier Farnell said further cost actions would be taken if momentum does not improve.

CJ