(Alliance News) - 21st Century Technology PLC on Monday reported a loss for the first half of 2019, as reduced investment by operators in the UK bus market led to falling sales of 21st Century's transport video and information systems.
21st Century said that, for the six months to the end of June, its pretax loss was GBP412,000, compared to a profit of GBP354,000 the year before. This was on revenue that dropped by 11% to GBP5.7 million from GBP6.4 million.
Segmentally, revenue in Fleet Systems, which provides video surveillance equipment, declined by 22% to GBP3.2 million from GBP4.1 million the prior year. Lower passenger numbers resulted in reduced investment by transport operators in the number of new vehicles.
However, Passenger Systems - which provides ticketing and travel information hardware and software - increased by 8.7% to GBP2.5 million from GBP2.3 million, as order intake for the business rose by 50% year-on-year on new contracts.
Looking ahead, 21st Century said that despite the disappointing results, it still has a large and growing pipeline of sales opportunities, with most negotiations in late or final stages.
"The reduction in UK new vehicle registrations cannot continue at this level for much longer and whilst this has impacted the company's financial performance in the first half, this masks the full picture. Order intake is up, particularly in our Passenger Business and we continue to invest significant resources into R&D, delivering new products and capabilities that are beginning to bear fruit," said Chief Executive Officer Russ Singleton.
Shares in 21st Century Technology were up 4.8% at 3.25 pence on Monday.