LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Somero Enterprises shares took a dive on Wednesday after the concrete-levelling equipment maker reported double-digit drops in interim revenue and profit.

The AIM traded company reported profit before tax of $10.5m for the six month period ended 30 June, down 23% compared to the same period last year, as revenue fell by 13% to $39.0m as poor weather disrupted North American trading.

Even so, the company proposed a 5.75 US cent interim dividend, up 4.5% from 5.50 cents the year prior.

Looking ahead, Somero said second half trading in Europe is now expected to fall modestly below the comparable prior year period due to the impact of economic uncertainty on customer purchasing decisions.

Full year revenue expectations remain between $83.0m and $87.0m as improvement is expected from the North American market as weather has improved and the non-residential construction market remains healthy.

Jack Cooney, chief executive of Somero, said: "Despite our disappointment with H1 2019 trading, we do not see a fundamental change in our end-markets and maintain a positive outlook for the remainder of 2019 particularly as our customers in the US return to more typical levels of productivity. Our confidence is based on our close customer contacts through which we can assess customer workloads, backlogs and business outlook."

Somero Enterprises shares were down 21.43% at 220.00p at 1355 BST.

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