Gooch & Housego trades 'slightly ahead' of FY expectations

Photonic components and systems manufacturer Gooch & Housego said on Tuesday that trading for the year ended 30 September was pegged to have finished "slightly ahead" of previous expectations.

G&H highlighted that its manufacturing locations in the UK, USA and China were now all fully open and trading levels in the latter part of the financial year reflected the recovery in its manufacturing capacity and the reopening of some of its larger customers' manufacturing sites.

The AIM-listed group also said it had entered the new financial year with "a solid order book" of £92.4m as of 30 September, 2.2% lower than the same period a year earlier.

Looking forward, G&H acknowledged that "significant global economic uncertainty" remained in the short-term due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but again stated that its order book remained "robust".

Chief executive Mark Webster said: "While there remains considerable short term economic uncertainty our order book remains robust, the company's balance sheet has strengthened during the period and we have continued to invest in our high priority R&D targets."

As of 1320 BST, G&H shares were up 2.11% at 1,014.94p.