Tandem Group swings to profit
Tandem Group, the Britain-based designer, developer and distributor of sports and leisure products, swung to profit in the first six months of 2014.
The Bromwich-based firm said it had gone through a difficult trading period, despite the “reasonable” weather conditions.
Pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 June was £0.2m, compared with a £0.5m loss in the same period 12 months earlier, while revenue rose from £11.3m to £13.7m.
The group said profit was boosted by gains made by its two main divisions and by a finance income of £0.2m related to a fair value adjustment for foreign currency derivative contracts.
"After a positive start to the year, the leisure bicycle market has been challenging in recent months. Although some areas of the bicycle market continue to perform strongly, in particular higher priced road bikes, our sector of the cycling market remains highly competitive," the company said in a statement.
Revenue in the group’s bicycles and accessories division rose 3.9% to £7.5m, thanks to the introduction of a new range of junior cycles, which were extremely successful and were employed in the British Triathlon Trust's summer cycling events programme across the UK.
The sports, leisure and toys arm saw revenue rise 54% to £6.3m, with revenue from licensed product ranges increasing from the previous period, while the interim dividend rose from 1.15p to 1.20p.
Tandem announced it had completed the acquisition of Pro Rider, an online retailer of mobility scooters, in a deal worth £2.5m, which could rise to £3.5m depending on the profitability of the agreement.
Tandem shares dropped 11.54% to 115.00p at 12:56 on Friday.