Laird still primed for growth

WINDOW locks and computer shields maker Laird Group slumped to a £60m first-half loss and halved the interim dividend today, but the company it was well placed to exploit any market upturn.

New broom Peter Hill, who arrived from Invensys last November, said he was happy with the three-pronged shape of the business going forward in the wake of Thursday's £30m sale of its computer assembly offshoot Fullarton. Laird had made good progress on rationalising its businesses, he said, adding: 'But the trading environment continues to be challenging and is likely to remain so for the rest of this year.'

Profits from continuing operations before exceptionals, goodwill amortisation and disposal losses grew from £14.1m to £15.6m. Operating performance was better than in the previous six months, the company said. However, a string of write-offs and restructuring costs led to a loss at the pre-tax level of £60m, compared with a £6.1m profit last time.

Laird Technologies, which makes shields to protect computer equipment from electromagnetic waves, posted a 5% improvement in orders, though actual sales were down. The outlook here was uncertain.

The locks division, Laird Security Systems, 'performed strongly' with operating profits before exceptionals up 9% to £11.1m. Laird Plastics, a US distribution business, boosted operating profits almost fourfold to £1.5m.The interim dividend was slashed from 5.7p to 2.9p - as signalled in March. The shares slipped 5p to 136p. Net borrowings increased from £67m to £81m by the end of June but the interest bill was covered 6.2 times before exceptionals.