LONDON (ShareCast) - The World Cup and the Winter Olympics in Russia helped video equipment supplier Vitec Group to increase first half pre-tax profit by 47.5% to £14.9m.

Adjusted operating profit in the six months to 30 June rose 35% from £12.3m to 16.6m, even though revenue fell 3% from £157.6m to £152.9m.

The company said the half-year results met the board's expectations and operating margin remained unchanged at 12.6%.

Vitec's three operating divisions - videocom, imaging and services - experienced mixed fortunes over the past six months.

The videocom branch, which supplies high-quality broadcast equipment for the video production industry, saw revenue fall from £70.2m to £69.7m, while the services division had a strong first half including contracts to support the Sochi Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.

"Our results for the first half of 2014 were in line with our expectations. Our markets remained challenging and, as expected, foreign exchange rates negatively impacted our revenue and profits," chief executive Stephen Bird said.

"Although our order book visibility remains limited, the board's expectations for the full year are unchanged."

Basic earnings per share rose from 14.9p to 23.1p, while the interim dividend per share increased 4.5% from 8.9p to 9.3p.

The adverse year-on-year impact from foreign exchange movements in the first half was £10.3m on revenue and £1.8m on operating profit, the London-based company said.

In a note to investors on Thursday, Investec Securities reiterated its "buy" stance.

"Vitec still faces patchy end market conditions, but has been successful in its initiatives to improve margins and the recent acquisitions are contributing well," said Investec analyst Michael Blogg.

Vitec shares were down 0.04% to 557.3p at 15:31 on Thursday.

DC

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