HC Slingsby's shares dip as H1 profits dive

Shares in industrial supplies firm HC Slingsby dropped on Tuesday after the company reported falling profits amid the loss of large orders.

The firm’s results for the first half of the year showed a 38% drop in profit before tax to £76,000 with revenue dropping by 2% to £9.7m as large orders from the first half of 2017 failed to recur.

Additionally, interim executive chairman and operations director Dominic Slingsby he was "cautious" following lower levels of order intake throughout June.

Slingsby reported cash and cash equivalents of £1.4m at 30 June, a 40% increase over the same period the year before.

Meanwhile, group net assets have increased to £1.8m at 30 June from £0.4m at 31 December due to a reduction in the liability relating to the defined benefit pension scheme from £8.6m to £7.2m, despite the company having not paid deficit reduction contributions in the period.

As such, Slingsby has opted not to post an interim dividend.

Dominic Slingsby, interim executive chairman and operations director of the company, said: “We are pleased that the group has sustained the profitable trading performance from 2017 (prior to the non-cash asset impairment). We do however remain cautious regarding the outlook due to the volatility that we have experienced in the recent past and the competitive nature of the marketplace.”

Slingsby’s shares were down 6.90% at 67.50p at 1619 BST.