Printing technology group Xaar has widened its loss after the company continued to struggle with the “continued decline” of the legacy ceramics market, it said today.
The London-listed company, which is headquartered in Cambridge, saw its revenue drop to £28.6m in the six months ending June 30, 2024, down from £34.6m in the same period of 2024.
As a result Xaar saw its pre-tax loss widen to £2.8m from £1.8m in the first six months of 2023.
The company said this had been almost entirely driven by dwindling demand for its ceramics printing services – an issue which had been ongoing for several years, and that its guidance for the year remained unchanged.
To combat it, Xaar has been looking to diversify its offering and in the first half of 2024 launched new products including the textiles, corrugate, battery coating and wax markets.
John Mills, Xaar chie executive, said: “We remain confident in our strategy which is increasingly demonstrating the unique capabilities of our printhead technology.
“Our pipeline of opportunities has increased in quality in both existing and new application areas and increasing numbers of OEM’s are engaged in, or actively planning, new product launches incorporating Xaar printheads.
“Newly developed high viscosity inks enable us to fully utilise the unique technology of our printheads, and whilst the legacy ceramics market is challenging, masking our success in new market sectors, we have enhanced our customer integration capabilities and are already seeing the benefit in accelerated OEM project launches in other target markets.
“We continue to focus on the elements of the business that are within our control, enhancing our technology, supporting customer adoption of our printheads, managing our cost base and strengthening our cash position demonstrating the benefits that Xaar’s unique capabilities can deliver to customers.
“We remain convinced of our ability to maximise the substantial opportunity we have.”