Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Sedgefield firm Filtronic announces redundancies in the UK


Sedgefield components firm Filtronic has announced it will make redundancies in the UK and overseas as part of cost-saving measures.


The manufacturer employs 85 people at its broadband business base in NETPark, Sedgefield,


The firm, which designs and manufactures microwave electronics products for the wireless telecoms infrastructure market, said in a trading update that revenues from its wireless business will not “build up as quickly as expected”.


As a result, the board now expects revenues for its wireless business to be around £10m for the year ending May 31, 2015.


Board changes have also been made and Rob Smith, chief financial officer, has replaced Alan Needle as chief executive officer with immediate effect.


The firm says its NETPark base continues to trade in line with market expectations.


The market note said: “The announcement made on January 28, 2015 cautioned that the Wireless business was exposed to the timing of several new OEM [original equipment manufacturer] product introductions over the next few months.


“Following recent meetings with customers and a detailed and critical appraisal of the status of key engineering developments, it is now clear to the board that the revenues from wireless in the latter months of the second half will not build up as quickly as expected.


“In particular, it is unlikely that any of the antenna projects in development will produce significant revenue before the May 31 year end.


“The board has set in train a series of cost-saving measures involving redundancies both in the UK and overseas.


“This will have a modest positive impact on profitability and cash flow in the remaining three months of the financial year.


“The main benefit of these actions will not be felt, however, until the start of the forthcoming financial year.”


As of February 28, net cash amounted to £1m.


Bank facilities, based on invoice discounting, are in place and the board said it is investigating a number of measures to strengthen the balance sheet with permanent capital.



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