LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Judges Scientific said on Tuesday that the main adverse impact of the Covid-19 crisis had been, and was continuing to be, on order intake.
The AIM-traded firm said organic order intake for the six months ended 30 June was down 17.3% year-on-year, caused by the closure of universities, the cancellation of scientific conferences and its inability to travel.

That reduction in order intake had not been evenly spread across its key geographies, with the UK decreasing 5%, China and Hong Kong and the rest of Europe each down 7%, North America down 32%, and the rest of the world down 24%.

Order intake also varied "considerably" from business to business, the board explained, with organic order intake recovering in May from the trough of April, and then progressing slowly in June.

The organic order book, as at 30 June, was "still satisfactory", the board said, representing 10.8 weeks of budgeted revenue, against 13.2 weeks as at 30 June and 31 December 2019.

Judges said the total order book, including heath scientific and Moorfield Nanotechnology, stood at 12.4 weeks.

Organic sales in the first half were down 12% year-on-year, which was put down to the decline in order intake, but also due to some customers delaying deliveries and to the impact of the travelling ban on installations.

The decline in sales was said to have been mitigated by the solid order book available at the beginning of 2020, and the compression of that order book during the first half.

"The group has operated profitably in each of the first six months of this year and generated positive operating cash-flow for the period," the directors said in their statement.

"As a result, the group has maintained a robust balance sheet with solid liquidity."

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Judges said its main priority had been to ensure the safety of its colleagues, with about half of its staff continuing to work from home.

It said its businesses, due to its decentralised structure, had been able to put in place "highly tailored and specific" solutions to allow manufacturing to continue through the crisis.

"Thanks to the ongoing efforts of our colleagues at all levels, none of our employees have been seriously ill and none of our facilities have been contaminated.

"The group has only suffered minor supply chain issues, all of which have been mitigated and managed accordingly.

"Customer closures have resulted in a minority of deliveries being postponed and some installations have still to be performed."

As it announced in its annual general meeting update in May, the board had taken steps to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, including using the UK government's furlough scheme, implementing cuts in remuneration, matched by the board, and repurposing a portion of its acquisition facility for working capital purposes.

Those actions remained in place, with a small reduction in the number of staff furloughed from 20% to 17%.

"The Covid-19 crisis has created significant and open-ended global uncertainty, with an associated impact on economic activity," the board said of the outlook.

"Although there are encouraging signs, it remains to be seen where and when demand, deliveries and installations will return to normal levels, as each jurisdiction in which the group operates is working independently according to that country's needs.

"Notwithstanding this, the board continues to believe that the group is in a robust position to weather the impact of the pandemic."

Judges Scientific said it was intending to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June on 22 September.

At 0922 BST, shares in Judges Scientific were down 2.11% at 5,100p.

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