Holders Technology

Holders' shares responded well to the company's results for the six months to May - and now trade at a 63% premium to the price at which we recommended them following annual figures released in February. A small European distributor of materials and products to manufacturers of printed circuit boards, the company saw turnover increase from £4.9m to £6.7m during the period, helped by small acquisitions made. A tiny pre-tax profit of £5,000 was recorded (excluding the £76,000 loss from the company's former 81% interest in Justfone, which was sold in June). Market conditions continued to be difficult, with Scandinavia in particular suffering from slow-moving stocks to the mobile phone makers there. But Holders still remained profitable, while the disposal of Justfone (for up to £500,000) is welcome for the cash inflow, the stemming of losses and the fact that no more management time will have to be devoted to it. The interim dividend has been maintained at 2p per share, which is encouraging and would indicate that the total year payout should hit 4.5p as expected by house broker Rowan Dartington - a prospective yield of 9.6% at the current price. This, together with the £200,000 of pre-tax profits and 3.9p of EPS expected for the year, suggest that the shares are still a good investment, even without a general recovery in demand.

Sector: General Industrials

Companies: Holders Technology

Market cap: £1.9m

PE Forecast: 11.9

Share price: 46.5p

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