Petards Group plc (AIM: PEG), the AIM quoted developer of advanced security and surveillance systems, is pleased to report its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Key Highlights:

• Financial
  • Total revenues £9,424,000 (2022: £10,872,000)
  • Gross profit margin 50.5% (2022: 51.0%)
  • Adjusted EBITDA* £340,000 (2022: £1,161,000)
  • Operating loss before exceptional items £529,000 (2022: £225,000 profit)
  • Exceptional acquisition and reorganisation costs incurred £656,000 (2022: £nil)
  • Loss after tax £1,050,000 (2022: £524,000 profit)
  • Basic and diluted loss per share 1.86p (2022: EPS basic 0.93p and diluted 0.91p)
  • Net cash from operating activities pre-exceptionals £660,000 (2022: £583,000)
  • Current net funds £1,241,000 (31 Dec 2022: £1,891,000)

• Operational
  • Strong revenues related to service and engineering support, spares and repairs reflected in high gross margin performance
  • Operating cost reductions in Q4 2023 expected to realise savings of over £0.4 million in 2024
  • Order book at 31 December 2023: £2.4 million (31 Dec 2022: £4.1 million)
  • 2023 new products included QRO’s Harrier AI camera launched in December for which significant orders have been received in 2024
  • Significant progress made towards delivering on the Group’s acquisition strategy

* Adjusted EBITDA comprises operating profit adjusted to remove the impact of depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items, acquisition costs and share based payments. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to operating profit is included on the face of the consolidated income statement.

Commenting on the current outlook, Raschid Abdullah, Chairman, said:

“Group trading was slightly ahead of budget for the first quarter but the second quarter has so far shown some signs of weakness relating to delays in respect of some orders anticipated to be received and delivered in the period. The current expectation is that most, if not all, of these orders will be received during the course of the year, revenues from which will be determined by the timing of order receipt. The board believes that the actions it has put in place and its continued focus on costs and gross profit margin performance should help to mitigate the impact on the adjusted EBITDA for the year.”

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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