Laird sees revenues fall by a third

In a trading update, the company, a leader in the design and supply of performance critical components and systems for wireless and other advanced electronics applications, confirmed that its business had been affected by "challenging macroeconomic conditions and supply chain de-stocking in the second half of 2008 and which have continued through the first half of this year". In the first half of 2009, like-for-like revenues are expected to have declined by some 35% compared with the strong first half of 2008. All three of Laird's divisions were affected by the lower demand. The trading performance of its Telematics antennae business was affected by the bankruptcy filings of Chrysler and General Motors. Laird expects to see a pick-up in demand for its products during the second half of the year, as a result of new customer and programme awards and some replenishment of inventories in the global supply chain. It also expects to see benefits in the second half from previously announced cost reduction actions that had been implemented during the first half of this year. The statement went on: "We are expanding our customer base, our businesses are continuing to develop innovative new families of products, and we are seeing the benefits of our engineering and technology focus with new programme awards. We are also seeing an increased number of requests for quotations, and are making good progress in further strengthening our position with some key customers. We believe that the fundamentals of our markets remain attractive and that our businesses are well positioned as these markets return to growth."