Premier Farnell shares tumble after profit warning

Tech distributor Premier Farnell’s shares tumbled after it said first half profit was likely to be 10% lower compared with the same period last year.

At 0834 BST shares in the FTSE 250 company were down by 8.87% to 150.15p, making it one of the biggest losers in early morning trading.

The company said it would start a review after sales momentum slowed drastically, especially in North American and UK markets.

The Leeds-based group sales growth per day was expected to be 1.2% compared with 5.4% delivered in the first quarter.

Excluding its popular microcomputer Raspberry Pi, Group sales per day growth was expected to be 0.8% in the second quarter, compared to 1.9% in the first quarter.

As well as poor trading performance, current exchange rates also forced the downward forecast, it added.

The technology company had also made a £2m provision for a potential legal action which was included in its operating profit forecasts, and said excluding this profit would be down 6% year-on-year.

Premier Farnell chief executive Laurence Bain said the group had implemented a number of initiatives to drive sales and expand its gross market, but was impacted by a difficult trading environment.