Laird posts decline in first-quarter revenue

Laird reported a drop in first-quarter revenue on Friday as the technology group experienced a weakness in business-to-business (B2B) markets.

Revenue for the quarter came to £119m, a 2.0% fall from £112m the previous year as poor performance in B2B offset a pick-up in the rate of design activity and design wins.

The company, which designs devices including cellular and mobile radio antennas, said it continues to expect revenues to be weighted towards the second half of the year following the introduction of new products.

"As a result of these new product launches and increasing investment, together with the translation benefit from a stronger US dollar than originally anticipated, our expectations for the full year remain unchanged," the firm said.

In the performance materials division, revenue fell to £73m from £74m, reflecting lower demand from its largest customer.

However, Laird said it was making good progress in penetrating new customers across new locations in the automotive, consumer and medical markets.

The integration of microscale thermal and power company Nextreme, acquired in February, is well underway and the business has secured a new contract to supply an international semiconductor company.

In the wireless systems division, revenue in the first quarter declined to £47m from £48m due to a slowdown in wireless spending and a reduction in sales to the public safety market against a strong previous year.

"There continues to be good demand for the smart antennae solutions we provide and there have also been a number of key new contract wins with international automotive customers," the group said.

"Over the medium-term, these customers have the potential to represent an increasingly significant proportion of Laird's overall customer base."

RD