Photonics engineering and manufacturing firm Gooch and Housego (G&H) has held its guidance for the year and remains optimistic despite revenue falling slightly.
The Lonodon-listed firm said the figure declined by 1.4 per cent to £63.6m over the six months to March due to customer destocking in industrial and medical laser markets.
Statutory profit before tax also came in at £0.3m down from £3m recorded in the same period the year before.
Gooch and Hosuego said its order book remained strong at £115.8m, up slightly from £115.3m recorded the year before, and “continues to grow, substantially de-risking second half revenue”.
Charlie Peppiatt, chief executive officer of Gooch and Housegeo, said: “Despite the reduced demand in our industrial and medical laser markets persisting longer than expected, the medium term outlook remains positive underpinned by a strong order book and healthy pipeline with the group well positioned to benefit from increased demand levels as a result of operational and supply chain improvements.
“The market dynamics for G&H’s technologies and capabilities remains strong in all our target sectors supported by the focused progress the group has made to establish the foundations to accelerate the delivery of our strategy.”
Shares in the company fell by nine per cent in early trade.
It follows a report in February that the company would have to revise its earnings for the year due to prolonged inventory adjustments among its customers.
Speaking at the time, the board of Gooch and Housego, said: “The group’s trading for 2024 is expected to be more weighted to the second half and profit growth for the full year to be lower. Adjusted profit before tax is anticipated to be circa £3m below management’s previous expectations.
“Given the strong medium term customer demand demonstrated by a growing order book, recent operational improvements and the group’s strategic focus, we believe we remain extremely well placed to respond quickly and benefit as several key end markets recover.”