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Industrial distributor Electrocomponents deferred its final dividend amid uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic after reporting a fall in profit owing to a slowdown in the electronics market and writedowns following the collapse of British Steel.
The company said it was 'prudent to defer the final dividend decision until it has greater visibility,' though added that at the half-year, it would review making an additional interim dividend for 2020.
For the year ended 31 March, pre-tax profit was up 2.3% to £199.6m on-year and revenue rose 2.2% to £1,953.8m.
As a result of British Steel entering compulsory liquidation on 22 May 2019, Electrocomponents had to write off £7.3m of receivables relating to transactions with British Steel before 22 May 2019 which were no longer recoverable.
Gross margin decreased by 0.8% to 43.7%.
Post year-end, performance continued to suffer from weaker demand as the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown measures became more extensive across the company's key markets throughout April and May.
Like-for-like revenue declined 14% during the first eight weeks of the new year ending 31 March 2021.