LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Kromek on Wednesday reported a widened loss due to margin pressure, though revenue surged as the company began to deliver on high value contracts.
The detection technology supplier booked a loss before tax of £2.7m for the six months ended 31 October, compared with a loss of £2.1m in the same period last year, as gross margin declined from 67% to 58%.

Kromek attributed this to a lower proportion of research & development revenue, which had been disproportionately high in the first half of the prior year due to the relocation of its US factory operations to a new purpose-built site in Pittsburgh.

Operating costs rose by 17% to £5.2m due to recruitment of new staff and a marketing expenses.

Meanwhile, turnover leapt by 43% to £5.3m after the AIM traded company said it delivered a number of high value, multi-year contracts with commercial and government customers across nuclear detection, medical imaging and security screening.

Product sales, which accounted for 82% of revenue, leapt by 53% following an increase in adoption of Kromek's next-generation medical imaging products and an expansion of applications for its D3S nuclear detection platform.

Chief executive Arnab Basu said: "We continue to experience growing demand for our flagship products, which is expected to convert to further orders. As a result, the group has visibility of 90% of expected revenue for FY 2019/20 based on delivery of the contracts already won and supported by a strong and increasing pipeline.

"The board expects to deliver significant revenue growth and EBITDA profit for full year in line with market expectations."

Kromek shares were up by 8.12% at 18.65p at 1003 GMT.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE