LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - X-ray screening systems supplier Image Scan updated the market ahead of its results for the year ended 30 September on Wednesday, reporting a fall in sales to £3.5m from £5.0m, though its gross margin did improve to 48% from 39%.
The AIM-traded company said its unaudited trading profit before exceptional expenditure and tax plunged to £0.05m from £0.48m.

Exceptional costs of around £0.25m against the aborted acquisition of Todd Research led to a loss for the year of £0.2m, the board reported.

A £1.0m order for portable x-ray systems was cancelled, with the company's agreement, in January, thought the units were re-sold.

A record number of industrial systems were delivered during the period, including to customers in Eastern Europe and Asia, Image Scan reported.

It said a new research and development programme was launched to create a new range of security x-ray systems, alongside its current portable range, to be started in the 2019 financial year.

An internal restructuring had started as well, with Sarah Atwell-King joining the board as financial director, as well as the appointments of a new head of operations and sales manager.

Image Scan had £0.78m in cash at the end of the period, down from £1.2m a year earlier.

"After three years of rapid growth in sales and profits, the cancelled order and the failure of the attempted acquisition have come as disappointments," said Image Scan chairman and chief executive officer Bill Mawer.

"A decline in portable X-ray orders has exacerbated this.

"While the instant increase in scale that the acquisition of Todd Research would have brought would have been welcome, our order pipeline is strong, and I am confident the changes to our team and the re-focus of our research and development efforts can return us to our previous growth path."

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