Andor Technology plc (AND.L), in its trading update, said it expects first-half performance to be in line with its expectations for revenue, profitability and cash generation. The firm's order book at 31 March 2013 was up 6% to 12 million pounds and sales of its mid-range camera portfolio grew 24% on the prior year.
The company, in its trading update of April 3, 2013, noted that its order book had strengthened due to OEM segment's strong performance. Also, it added that drawdown against the OEM order book was less than anticipated and Andor anticipated this would improve in the second half of the year.
Since April 3, 2013, market conditions remained challenging, mainly relating to the availability of funding to support scientific research, with the biggest impact being felt in the higher price point instrumentation market serviced by its OEM customers, and to a lesser extent its own Systems business. Therefore, the company now expects second-half performance to be below its current forecast.
Looking forward, Andor sees annual sales performance to be flat year-on-year across its Research, Software and Systems divisions. Though OEM order intake would show a 6% growth in the first half, end customer demand is less than expected. Hence, full-year sales performance is believed to be 4 million pounds down on last year in its OEM unit across both physical and life science customers.
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