Petards

Petards, the surveillance systems outfit formerly known as Screen, has a bombed-out share price and a chequered history, but the worm could be about to turn under the tutelage of new chief executive David Hayes. Calendar 2004 figures from the group, which has never made a profit and which, in 2002 as Screen, breached banking covenants while suspended, revealed pre-tax losses of £2.4m (£1.96m) on a 7% rise in sales to £22.6m. The figures reflected the full P&L and balance sheet pain of restructuring for a stronger and profitable future, and balance sheet weakness was recently rectified with a £5.1m placing. The straight-talking Hayes has also driven out costs and focused on some severely lacking customer service focus. 'This company never had any synergies before,' he says, 'but we've reduced the structure from seven locations and six subsidiaries to two locations and two subsidiaries, and taken out annualised costs of £1m.' Having rationalised the Petards arm (the 2004 figures reflected disruption in the Petards division balanced by 'continued strength' at Joyce-Loebl) group performance has improved, resulting in a small operating profit for the first quarter of 2005. Furthermore, Hayes says the outlook for the first half is encouraging and there are interesting order prospects afoot. 'We're absolutely focused on our customer service now,' he assures. Tread carefully, but at the current penny share price, the 'new' Petards could reward the brave.

Sector: General Industrials

Companies: Petards

PE Forecast: n/a

Share price: 1.15p

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