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(Sharecast News) - Videndum tumbled on Wednesday as the manufacturer of hardware and software for the film industry posted a sharp drop in first-half revenue and struck a downbeat tone on the outlook.
Revenue tumbled 25% from the first half of 2024 to £115.4m. The company's adjusted operating loss narrowed to £7m from £29.2m a year earlier, while the adjusted loss before tax narrowed to £14.3m from £31.9m.
Executive chairman Stephen Harris said revenues were weaker in the second quarter than the board's expectations at the time of the FY24 results in April.
However, much of the adjusted operating profit impact caused by the revenue shortfall was offset by the restructuring and cost management programmes previously announced.
Harris said that while conditions improved month by month through the first quarter, the ramifications of US trade policies have become clearer in the second quarter.
Videndum said end user demand in the US is running ahead of sales to its distribution channels, as importers have been holding off ordering until the tariff situation becomes clearer. This has led to weaker revenues in the US.
"Ongoing global macro-economic uncertainty, as well as tariff uncertainty, have also had some impact on revenues outside the US," said Harris. "However, end customer sentiment is turning in the independent content creators ("ICC") market and there are increasing signs of pent-up demand in the Cine market. This, in conjunction with the trading environment outlined above, has led to there being a limited amount of inventory in the US.
"The group has put in place stocks of long lead time components to ensure it can respond quickly to any increased demand. Consequently, any uptick in end market demand will feed through into revenue with little delay. Allied to the benefit from the restructuring and cost management programmes previously announced, any improvement in revenue in H2 2025 will drop through to operating profit at a significant rate.
"The ongoing uncertain economic environment and the increased trading volatility due to US tariffs has led to a deterioration in the group's visibility of the potential outcome for FY25."
At 1310 BST, the shares were down 42% at 61.57p.
Broker Shore Capital, which put the stock under review, having previously rated it a 'hold', expects the sharp revenue decline to drive "material downgrades" to consensus.
It noted that management guided to flat revenues for FY25 year-on-year and a low single digit operating margin at the FY24 results on 30 April.
"We believe the company is increasingly unlikely to achieve this given the H1 revenue decline," Shore Capital said.
"£115.4m revenue was delivered in H1, 41% of FY24A. We see no clear signs that market conditions will improve to the extent that H2 revenue will be 46% ahead of H1, as required to meet the previous FY guidance.
"We also believe the prospect of the company delivering an adjusted operating profit this year looks less likely following this morning's update."
