Thursday preview: Premier Farnell reports on first quarter

Premier Farnell, the British distributor of electronic components to engineers, will release a first-quarter trading update on Friday, updating shareholders on its performance since the financial year-end of February 3rd.

The company reported a 3.4% fall in adjusted operating profit to £23.9m in the quarter to February 3rd (the fourth quarter), as total revenue dropped following weak performance from the MDD Americas division.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 7.9% to £18.7m while adjusted earnings per share declined 10% to 3.6p.

At the time Chief Executive Laurence Bain blamed challenging market conditions for the lower results.

"Whilst we have limited visibility and current market conditions continue to be uncertain, the new financial year has started positively and we remain confident in our ability to implement our strategic vision and optimise the business' performance to grow our active customer base, gain market share and drive financial performance," he said.

The firm unveiled an annual revenue of £952m and pre-tax profits of £70.60m, compared to the previous year's revenue of £973.10m and pre-tax profit of £104.60m.

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