Xaar sees better-than-expected FY profits after Chinese pick-up

Digital inkjet printing technology group Xaar forecast better-than-expected annual profit after a recovery in the Chinese ceramic tile market.

Xaar said it expected 2014 full-year group revenue to be about £108m, near the top of the range announced on 2 October.

"As a result, profit for the year is now expected to be higher than current market expectations," the group said in a trading update.

Xaar said sales in the group's biggest market, ceramic tiles, stabilised in the fourth quarter after a slowdown in Chinese demand in the third quarter.

But it said forward visibility remained low and the board's expectations for 2015 were unchanged.

"The group continues to anticipate that total sales in 2015 will not exceed £100m, reflecting a broadly consistent level of sales across all applications at the present level of demand," it said.

Xaar cut 160 jobs in November and this month, amounting to a fifth of its global workforce, as part of cost reductions unveiled on 2 October.

"Direct production costs, factory overheads and operating costs have all been reduced in order to achieve a reasonable level of financial performance in 2015," it said.

Shares rose 26p or 9.8% to 290p at 08:15 in London.