Premier Farnell boosts dividend after beating quarterly forecast
ELECTRONIC components distributor Premier Farnell more than doubled its profit in the second quarter, beating market expectations, helped by strong growth in China and a recovery in North America.
The company, which counts Philips, Microsoft and Nokia among its customers, posted underlying pre-tax profit of £23.8m for the three months to 1 August, up from £10.7m a year ago, on revenue 30 per cent higher at £252.1m.
The sales growth had continued in August, with sales up more than 25 per cent year-on-year, it said.
Premier Farnell, which competes with Electrocomponents, increased its interim dividend by five per cent to 4.4p, underpinned by its confidence in its strategy, although it said it remained aware of the uncertain economic outlook and the inherent limited visibility in the business.
Analysts were expecting the company to report revenue of £233.8m and pre-tax profit of £21.2m, according to a company-supplied consensus of seven brokers.
Chief executive Harriet Green said the results reflected “the continued progress in our strategy”.
Shares in Premier Farnell gained 7.3 per cent to close 17.5p up at 257.1p.