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Optical components and systems maker Gooch & Housego resumed its interim dividend payment amid a recovery in its markets and positive outlook following a slump in first-half profit.
For the six months ended 31 March 2021, pre-tax profit fell 60.9% to £0.7 million year-on-year as revenue climbed 1.8% to £58.5 million.
Adjusted pre-tax profit was up 83.7% from the prior year, as a 'result of improving volumes and the benefits of the Group's site consolidation programmes,' the company said.
The order book at the half year end was £92.8 million, up 1.3% from last year.
The interim dividend was reinstated at 4.5 pence per share, reflecting the trading recovery and positive outlook, the company said.
A sustained recovery was seen in the industrial lasers business, 'building on the previously reported growth in semiconductors,' the company said.
Looking ahead, the company left its full-year expectations unchanged and said its restructuring programmes were progressing well and were expected to be substantially complete by the end of the financial year.
'They [the restructuring programmes] have made a contribution to the improved profit performance in the period and are on track to deliver the expected full year benefit in FY 2022,' it added.